Review of "Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa," by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander

 Review of

Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa, by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander

Five out of five stars

A concentrated, brutal battle

 While the battle for Guadalcanal between Allied and Japanese forces involved land, sea and air forces in greater numbers than took place on Tarawa, it could not match the concentrated savagery. In the battle for Guadalcanal that came earlier, the Japanese forces eventually withdrew rather than fighting to the end. That was not the case with Tarawa.

 After the Japanese forces in control of Tarawa realized that the Allies would eventually attack, they spent a year fortifying the islands against an assault. This was not the case with Guadalcanal. The overall size of the islands of Tarawa were also small, so that there was no real room to maneuver, therefore both sides knew that it was going to be a frontal assault against well prepared positions. The Japanese forces also understood that there was little chance of any aid arriving. Those forces were the elite of the Japanese military, known to be willing to fight to the death.

 On November 20. 1943, the Allied attack began. It took only three days for the Marines to secure the island. Of the approximately 2,600 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 17 were taken prisoner. Of the over 2,000 Korean laborers on the islands, only 129 survived. Over 1,000 U. S. Marines were killed. Most of the killing was done on Betio island, only 0.59 square miles in area. This works out to 358 acres or approximately 15 deaths per acre.

 This brief book summarizes all of these facts as well as the lessons that were learned by both sides. The American forces understood how tenacious and unrelenting the Japanese forces would be in future battles as well as how effective the Japanese were able to fortify their positions. As is pointed out, the brutal lessons learned on Tarawa were applied when additional Japanese island fortresses were attacked later in the war.

 The Japanese military leaders also understood that without significant aerial and naval support from their side, the American forces would be able to overwhelm and destroy any Japanese installation, no matter how strong the fortifications. After Tarawa, both sides knew that the war came down to a simple formula, how many casualties the American commanders were willing to take in order to destroy the Japanese military installations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of "Donner Dinner Party," by Nathan Hale

  Review of Donner Dinner Party , by Nathan Hale, ISBN 9781419708565 Four out of five stars Horrible title, good historical rendition   Given that the Donner Party was trapped in the snow on their journey to the west coast and resorted to cannibalism to survive, the title of the book is appalling. Yet, the story is rendered in a historically accurate manner. The original members of the group left Springfield, Illinois with a destination of the area of California near San Francisco. They started on their journey in April of 1846 with high expectations, a large team of oxen and what they thought were more than enough provisions for the journey.   Like many of the people that executed their dreams to go to the west coast, the people of the Donner party underestimated the difficulty of the journey. Unfamiliar with deserts and mountainous terrain, they did not appreciate how hard it was to traverse areas of what was still largely wilderness.   Their fatal mist...
Read more

Review of "The Forty-Minute War," by Janet and Chris Morris

  Review of The Forty-Minute War , by Janet and Chris Morris, ISBN 0671559869 Three out of five stars Absurd initial premise and bad ending   This book begins with an absurd premise, not the event, but the context. A group of committed terrorists manage to acquire a nuclear weapon and a plane. The manage to fly it from Saudi Arabia to Washington D. C. where they detonate it. Distraught over the knowledge that his wife and family have been killed, the American President orders a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. They retaliate and it is all over in 40 minutes. After ordering the strike, the American President takes a gun and kills himself.   There are two reasons why this premise is absurd, one major and the other minor. The major one is that the intelligence services of the United States were aware of the nuclear weapon and had an elite anti-terrorist team on the ground ready to take out the terrorists. However, the team was given a stand-down order. Whil...
Read more

Review of "The Impossibly True Story of Tricky Vic, the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower," by Greg Pizzoli

  Review of The Impossibly True Story of Tricky Vic, the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli, ISBN 9780670016525 Five out of five stars Chronicle of an amazing life   Born in 1890 in what is now the Czech Republic, the man originally called Robert Miller went under forty-five different aliases and once actually sold the Eiffel Tower using the name Count Victor Lustig. Hence the name “Tricky Vic” in the title.   His list of other scams is considerable, he was also a counterfeiter and played a scam called the Romanian money box. It was a simple device loaded with a couple of valid bills that supposedly printed out $100 bills.   This account of the life and times of one of history’s most well-traveled and experienced con men is a joy to read. It also contains a very serious lesson, Robert Miller ended up in Alcatraz prison after being convicted of counterfeiting. He left the prison due to serious illness and died shortly afterward..   Robert...
Read more