![]() Air attacks preceded them, and the northern landing force arrived at Makin Atoll in the early hours of November 20. First, attack the island second, gain control of all surrounding smaller islands and third, pursue and capture the enemy.Īmerican troops left Pearl Harbor for Makin Atoll on November 10, 1943. The mission of capturing Makin and eliminating the Japanese in the area required three steps. The Battle of Tarawa was the first major American offensive in the central Pacific region. The northern landing force's objective was Makin Atoll, and the southern landing force was to go to Tarawa. Officially called Operation Galvanic, the mission consisted of a northern and a southern landing force. The mission would be carried out by a combination of Army, Marine, and Navy forces. Preparations for the attack began in early 1943. ![]() If the American attack on the Gilberts succeeded, U.S. Makin Island, also called Butaritari, lying south of the lagoon, was the largest and most important piece of land in the atoll and was where the Japanese established their seaplane base. Makin Atoll, lying little more than 2,000 miles from Pearl Harbor, is a rough triangle enclosing a large lagoon. The islands served as Japan's outer defenses and were, for the United States, vital communication links between Hawaii and Australia. The Gilberts and Marshalls were critical to both Japan and the United States. Japan had held Makin, where they had established a seaplane base, since its expansion into the Pacific in 1941. The diarist, a soldier sent to the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific, was stationed on Makin Atoll, a small group of islands just south of the Marshall Islands. All of us put the muzzle of the gun to our throats several times but however eventually we will die so why not just stick it out to the finish?" "Even though we are alive we figure we will only live about 2–3 days. This man, whose training was shaped by Japan's military tradition, wrote his journal as he planned suicide attacks, battled his emotions, and fought to live.įor example, he recorded on November 25, 1943: military intelligence, the diary offers a glimpse into one soldier's life among the millions of personal, complex World War II stories. This story begins with the diary's transcript, which lies among the War Department records at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Captured Japanese and Korean prisoners aboard a U.S.
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