[the_daug]

I know a marine that was at Tarawa. He said many of if not most of the Marines were killed by friendly fire.

[pfflier]

Seriously? That is a new version of stolen valor. I certainly would like to meet your “marine from Tarawa” and ask a few questions.

[Domangart]

The whole thing was a mess. Thompson's Raiders went on a raid and the army decided to send troops to that area. These islands were used as runways. We went without a communications ship. They attacked with the expectation of a tide. There was almost none. They had a lot of Higgins boats . They could not clear the reef. The Jap command was blown up transferring to another bunker. The two waves came across the island and cut it in halt. I had two relatives stitched by machine guns. One was on this island. they both lived long lives.