Tarawa

The politicians of today would have raised the white flag of surrender and what kind of a world would it be like today?
That generation adapted and overcame the enemy,thank God.

Sir,

Yes, many fine grunts got chewed up and spit out on that God cursed pile of corral. My research of many of these island battles given the bigger picture, suggest that we could have skipped many of these brutal grabs of smaller islands and just picked key central islands with air-strip potential and then choked off supplies to the outlying defenders. Arm Chair QB I admit..

As an aside, if you're ever in the National Capitol Region, the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico is an absolute must!!! It's a fantastic place to learn more about the Marines and what they've contributed to our Country's defense.

NonPC MC Dad,

If you'll take a look at it, we did just that - it's why we didn't bother trying to take Truk or Rabaul.

I don't think the Philippines were originally in the plan either, but there was GEN MacArthur with his "I shall return" speech....

On an island named HELEN
We staked out our claim
And the Second Division
Won ere'lasting fame

While the Army was planning to refight the First War, Pete Ellis and a small band of brothers were developing the plans and techniques to fight an amphibious war agains Japan in the Pacific. Tarawa was the first opposed amphibious assault, and we learned many important lessons. The most important of which was that the conventional wisdom was wrong and that a determined force could overcome impossible odds and persevere.

Semper Fi!