When I was on The Forty in a different century than this one 
, I went out with a girl whose dad had been a Marine in the amphibious assault on the Japanese-held island of Tarawa in November 1943, which cost more American lives than the more famous landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy seven months later. He was a reserved man, and his laconic personality made him slightly intimidating. The few times I spent with him, I never mustered the courage to ask him about that experience. We lost over 1,000 Marines killed there in three days of bitter combat, and only 17 of 4,000 Japanese defenders survived. But the description of the battle for Tarawa in Ian Toll’s The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 tells you everything you need to know about those horrific days. Here’s a sample, reminiscent of the Ron Spiers character in Band of Brothers (Betio refers to the main island in the Tarawa atoll):
, I went out with a girl whose dad had been a Marine in the amphibious assault on the Japanese-held island of Tarawa in November 1943, which cost more American lives than the more famous landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy seven months later. He was a reserved man, and his laconic personality made him slightly intimidating. The few times I spent with him, I never mustered the courage to ask him about that experience. We lost over 1,000 Marines killed there in three days of bitter combat, and only 17 of 4,000 Japanese defenders survived. But the description of the battle for Tarawa in Ian Toll’s The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 tells you everything you need to know about those horrific days. Here’s a sample, reminiscent of the Ron Spiers character in Band of Brothers (Betio refers to the main island in the Tarawa atoll):Lieutenant William D. Hawkins, a Texan, was one of those rare men who seemed entirely indifferent to danger. He dashed across exposed firing fields with wild-eyed, manic courage; he personally attacked one enemy pillbox or machine-gun nest after another, throwing grenades into firing ports; he refused to be evacuated even after suffering serious shrapnel wounds. Hawkins commandeered an amtrac, loaded the remains of his platoon into it, and charged into concentrated machine-gun fire. A witness told [journalist Robert] Sherrod, “I’ll never forget the picture of him standing on that amtrac, riding around with a million bullets a minute whistling by his ears, just shooting Japs. I’ve never seen such a man in my life.” Shortly after noon a bullet caught him in the shoulder and severed an artery. He died in minutes. Later, Betio’s captured airfield would be named Hawkins Field, and the lieutenant’s mother would accept a posthumous Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt.
And this:The last axis of organized resistance in central Betio was in a two-story steel-reinforced concrete blockhouse that had withstood all direct hits by shells or bombs. The hard-run bulldozers were called into service to finish the job. They approached with blades raised as armor against fire, and shoved a small mountain of sand and coral up to cover the entrance and firing slots. A few marines climbed to the top of the structure and poured gasoline down the air vents. A single hand grenade was enough to convert the blockhouse into a kiln. The remains of 300 Japanese were later excavated from the interior.
Damn.
Last edited:
