74 years ago today the toughest battle in Marine Corp history

CA-35

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US Marines survey the carnage ashore Betio, the principal island of Tarawa, a group of coral atolls that make up The Gilbert Islands. on November 20, 1943. After 76 hours of intense fighting, they had wrested it away from 4800 tenacious Japanese defenders.

japanese-commanders-concentrated-their-forces-on-betio-a-strongly-defended-island-at-the-southwest-corner-of-the-atoll-planning-to-destroy-us-transports-at-sea-and-then-concentrate-all-fires-on-the-enemys-landing-point-and-destroy-him-at-the-waters-edge-the-island-was-estimated-to-have-a-garrison-of-4800-men--more-than-half-of-them-first-rate-troops.jpg


More than 1,500 Marines and sailors had been killed, with nearly 2,300 wounded. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers.
 

dreadnut

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Carnage is the right choice of words. I'll bet those guys there are real happy to be walking around.
 

Stuball48

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US Marines survey the carnage ashore Betio, the principal island of Tarawa, a group of coral atolls that make up The Gilbert Islands. on November 20, 1943. After 76 hours of intense fighting, they had wrested it away from 4800 tenacious Japanese defenders.

japanese-commanders-concentrated-their-forces-on-betio-a-strongly-defended-island-at-the-southwest-corner-of-the-atoll-planning-to-destroy-us-transports-at-sea-and-then-concentrate-all-fires-on-the-enemys-landing-point-and-destroy-him-at-the-waters-edge-the-island-was-estimated-to-have-a-garrison-of-4800-men--more-than-half-of-them-first-rate-troops.jpg


More than 1,500 Marines and sailors had been killed, with nearly 2,300 wounded. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers.[/QUOTE

Thanks for reminding us.
 

gjmalcyon

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That battle was filmed extensively and the newsreels were shown in theaters - the first time the home audience saw the "real" battle footage and the aftermath. NPR has an interesting story and interview here.

My late uncle and godfather did two tours in the South Pacific with the Marines, came out of the battles for Guadalcanal and then Peleilu with malaria, and was such a PITA stateside to get back in the fight, they let him go back, and he ended up on Okinawa for the final battle there. Later did a tour in Vietnam as a USMC Sergeant Major, and it was Okinawa that left him with lifetime PTSD. It was the Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam that finally got him, not all the combat he saw.
 
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