With the Marines at Tarawa

These are the men of the 2nd Marine Division.

A destroyer with sealed orders meets the Marine convoy.

The relief map of their objective is shown to the Marines.

They check and test fire their weapons.

Services are held on the last evening before D-Day.

The ships open fire on Tarawa. This is followed by plane attacks, and then more ship fire.

A beached wreck of a Japanese ship that was being used to fire on the incoming Marines.

The Japanese open fire on the Marines, while U.S. planes attack from the Japanese from overhead.

The Marines land and establish a beachhead.

The Marines begin to move forward.

The film shows some Japanese trying to run away. The Marines fire on them.

Marines attacking a Japanese bunker.

The Japanese after the bunker has been overrun. They almost always chose death over surrender.

At night the Japanese would swim out to wrecked Marine amphibious vehicles and set up machine-guns, so the next day the Marines would have to destroy them.

Chaplain's assistants tend to the American dead on the beach.

The Marines take some prisoners.

American wounded are removed from the beach.

The film shows dead Marines.

Japanese prisoners are carefully searched.

A Japanese light tank that was destroyed.

The Seebees move in and fix up an airstrip while fighting is still going on.

The first plane lands only a day after the Seebees had started their work on the air field.

The Marines raise the American flag.



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