Tarawa Day - US Military Videos

On this date in history in 1943, the WWII Battle of Tarawa began. The three-day battle for Tarawa in the Central Pacific was the first major trial by fire for the new Marine doctrine of forcible amphibious assault from the sea against a fortified island. Tarawa's coral reef, a barrier to the Navy's landing boats, posed a serious problem. To land the initial attack forces across the reef, the Marines converted their tracked "Alligator" cargo-haulers - civilian rescue vehicles designed to perform

In November, 1943, the Japanese commander at Tarawa said it would take 100 years and 1 million men to conquer the Pacific atoll. It took the U.S. Marine Corps just three days in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. | U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

On Nov. 20, 1943, U.S. Marines and sailors with the 2nd Marine Division commenced the Battle of Tarawa, a major offensive during #WWII. The ensuing 76-hour fight saw unprecedented bloodshed for both U.S. and Japanese forces. The U.S. emerged victorious, however, and would eventually defeat the Japanese in the Pacific in August 1945. | U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)