[tarawa]

This was one of the first major opposed landings in WWII. The training and lead-up time for later landings would have been shortened, due to now we knew more about what to give priority to in training, and more about what really did not need to be considered. When training for a landing at Tarawa, we would probably have trained for a lot of unnecessary eventualities, due to we really had no idea what to expect.

[WhiskeyPapa]

You probably know that the amphibian tractors were never designed for beach assault. They were designed strictly for adminstrative runs from ship to shore -- a cargo carrier. Some of the ones at Tarawa had some field fitted armor, but this was just another thing that the Marines did for mission accomplishment no matter what. Second MarDiv was just an awesome unit to take that island.

Semper Fidelis

Walt