“It’s Hell In There”

The words of an unidentified amtrac crewman at Tarawa, November 20, 1943. War correspondent Robert Sherrod described the landings on Betio Island and was a passenger for a short time on the amtrac (or amphtrack) before having to wade the rest of the way to the beach under heavy Japanese fire. US planners had badly misjudged tide conditions and the invading Marines had to wade as much as 500 yards to reach the beaches.

'It's hell in there,' said the amphtrack boss, who was pretty wild-eyed himself. 'They've already knocked out a lot of amphtracks and there are a lot of wounded men lying on the beach. See that old hulk of a Jap freighter over there? I'll let you out about there, then go back to get some more men. You can wade in from there.' I looked. The rusty old ship was about two hundred yards beyond the pier. That meant some seven hundred yards of wading through the fire of machine guns whose bullets already were whistling over our heads.

The fifteen of us - I think it was fifteen - scurried over the side of the amphtrack into the water that was neck-deep. We started wading.

No sooner had we hit the water than the Jap machine guns really opened up on us. There must have been five or six of these machine guns concentrating their fire on us… It was painfully slow, wading in such deep water. And we had seven hundred yards to walk slowly into that machinegun fire, looming into larger targets as we rose onto higher ground. I was scared, as I had never been scared before. But my head was clear. I was extremely alert, as though my brain were dictating that I live these last minutes for all they were worth. I recalled that psychologists say fear in battle is a good thing; it stimulates the adrenalin glands and heavily loads the blood supply with oxygen.

In all, the Second Marine Division sustained more than 3,000 casualties in the three days it took to secure Betio. Only 17 of the estimated 4,700 Japanese defenders survived. Much more on Tarawa here.

In all, the Second Marine Division sustained more than 3,000 casualties in the three days it took to secure Betio. Only 17 of the estimated 4,700 Japanese defenders survived. Much more on Tarawa here.