
US Marines take cover among the dead and wounded behind a sand dune on "Red Beach 3" after landing on Tarawa Atoll, north-east of Australia, in the Central Pacific Ocean; October, 1943.
  Battle of Tarawa was the second in a row of the US offensive operations in the Pacific. The Japanese garrison put up unexpected, fierce resistance, leading to heavy losses in the ranks of the US Marines. US losses were so great that a large number of corpses were not returned to their homeland.


Heavy losses on the beach

USMC Lt. Gen. Holland Smith (standing) and Admirals Ernest King and Chester Nimitz on the island of Saipan, Mariana Islands, Western Pacific Ocean; June-July 1944.

On the island of Saipan

A group of Marines are resting next to an LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) numbered 23 on Red Beach of Tarawa atoll, north-east of Australia in the Central Pacific ocean.
