Tarawa Boom De-ay

Photo Courtesy of the National Archives

The bloody Battle of Tarawa was fought from 20-23 November 1943. Though the Marines proved victorious after only three days of combat, it was at a heavy cost: nearly 1,000 US Marines killed, and with the sinking of USS Liscome Bay, more than 650 sailors were lost.  Tarawa–and Makin, captured shortly after Tarawa–were part of the grand and complicated island-hopping scheme that would eventually lead to US capability of getting land-based bombers over the Philippines and Japanese home islands. Read more about the invasion of Tarawa and see archival footage and photographs from the Museum’s collection at Focus On: Invasion of Tarawa.

This post by National WWII Museum Curator Meg Roussel