anal.
Guadalc
Traveling with a group of military hobby-
on
ists and historians, i was eager to visit this historic
battle site. its location in the heart of the Pacifi c
months
makes it diffi cult to reach, but it was well worth
six
the effort for our group. after visiting other Pacifi c
of
battlefi elds, i can say that, today, Betio is more like
it was during the war than any other battle site
those
in the Pacifi c. Now known as Kiribati, the most
to signifi cant event in its history is the titanic battle
able
for its airfi eld in 1943. Battlefi eld relics litter the
ar island. Between 12,000 and 20,000 people live on
omp
the one-half-square-mile site of the battlefi eld.
c one of the most pressing problems facing the
e
re
people of this atoll is their own trash. the his-
s
w
toric landing beaches have become a dump. to us,
tarawa is hallowed ground. it was shocking to see
what has happened there and to learn there is no
asualtie
c practical solution in sight to the trash problem.
an
americ
a,
a
w
ar
t
s
on
hour
76
only

in
t:
f
ac
mini
it took a direct assault by infantrymen, supported by an m-4 sherman tank and a flamethrower, to secure
the enemy command bunker. to o large to destroy after the war, the bunker today (top) looks much as it did
in 1943 (above). in the foreground is one of 14 japanese light tanks destroyed or disabled during the battle.
58 Military officer January 2007 photos: aboVe, UsmC; to p, maj. Dale robinson, UsmC-ret.
Dec_tarawa.indd 58 11/4/09 3:17 PM
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