World war 2 Battle of Tarawa: how the battlefield looks today! (Pacific war tour in Kiribati)

Discovering the historical battle site of Tarawa, Betio island, in Kiribati. In this tropical
paradise in November 1943 the US for the first time in the war went on a full frontal attack on heavily fortified beaches. The second Marines suffered enormous losses as the majority of the landing crafts got stuck on the reef and the soldiers had to wade in the water unprotected, towards Japanese machine gun fire. Three days later the small island and the Tarawa atoll was liberated but the beaches and waters were covered in blood.

Пікірлер: 67

  • @rollotomassi6374
    @rollotomassi637410 ай бұрын

    My dad was a first day lander, 2nd Marines, Red 2…..wounded on the third day…..very dangerous battle for the USMC…God bless them all, Semper Fi.

  • @mariorodrigues5796

    @mariorodrigues5796

    6 ай бұрын

    Parabéns pelo serviço prestado por seu Pai meus Respeitos meu Tio-avô lutou na Itália Monte Castelo 👊👊👊👊

  • @grumpyvet7670
    @grumpyvet76708 ай бұрын

    I'm an old Marine vet. Tarawa is one of MANY sacred places for Marines. It pisses me off that our government doesn't do a damn thing to preserve these sites! 🤬🤬🤬

  • @bobloblaw2958

    @bobloblaw2958

    6 ай бұрын

    Our government doesnt even support our vets, what would you expect.

  • @Jakal-pw8yq

    @Jakal-pw8yq

    3 ай бұрын

    Seems to become an unofficial garbage dump and that on Hallowed Ground.😢😔💔🇺🇲⚓️💯

  • @timp.6127

    @timp.6127

    2 ай бұрын

    The politicians care more about illegal immigrants than US citizens. Vets are even lower on priority list.

  • @Rangerluck

    @Rangerluck

    12 күн бұрын

    It’s not American territory.

  • @freedfree7933

    @freedfree7933

    11 күн бұрын

    It’s not American.. wouldn’t that defeat the point of sovereignty?

  • @eoghanoconnell2842
    @eoghanoconnell284228 күн бұрын

    Very interesting and well-made. Thank you

  • @mikefoley3508
    @mikefoley350811 ай бұрын

    I am currently reading 'Twilight of the Gods' by Ian Toll. One of the best books on the Pacific War and just finished watching 'With the Marines at Tawara' on U-tube. Thank you for your video as I was curious as to what Betio looked liked today.

  • @mrpirate3470

    @mrpirate3470

    10 ай бұрын

    If you want some more on the Tarawa battle I'd recommend: Tarawa 20-23 November 1943: A Hell of a Way to Die by Derrick Wright

  • @davidroyer8512
    @davidroyer85129 ай бұрын

    My father fought there, someday i will go there, my father a decorated marine, lived this war along with saipain and guadalcanal, till he died in 2004.

  • @wlhjr77
    @wlhjr772 ай бұрын

    Very well made video, thank you for posting this.

  • @michaelgallen1333
    @michaelgallen1333 Жыл бұрын

    Very interesting film Martin. I have been to Tarawa a couple of times, so it was nice to see stuff in your film that I have seen in real life.

  • @joe5st817
    @joe5st817 Жыл бұрын

    What a hole that place has turned into, reminds me of the 3rd world countries I was in during service 2003-07. Good video!

  • @Kilty007

    @Kilty007

    10 ай бұрын

    @joe5st817, The Republic of Kiribati, is a 3rd world country; it's one of the poorest places in the Pacific. It's sad to see garbage strewn all over the place but you'll find the same thing in the so-called "developed world" in places such as the Bahamas (take a drive through Nassau sometime), the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, etc.

  • @joelmonkley6177

    @joelmonkley6177

    10 ай бұрын

    Your right it is a third world country but it's better than many places in the untied states of America

  • @gordontyree4308

    @gordontyree4308

    7 ай бұрын

    TOTAL SHIT HOLE…LITERALLY! SICKENING AND DISGRACEFUL HOW THIS SACRED BATTLEFIELD AND MEMORIALS ARE BEING TOTALLY NEGLECTED BY THE US GOVERNMENT! THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE ALSO! PATHETIC!

  • @bobloblaw2958

    @bobloblaw2958

    6 ай бұрын

    Don't forget San Francisco.

  • @localbod
    @localbod8 ай бұрын

    Thank you for posting this informative video. It is appreciated.

  • @lesliesawyer3224
    @lesliesawyer32243 ай бұрын

    I appreciate your work. The way you filmed it all gave my imagination a boost.

  • @mtshasta4195
    @mtshasta4195 Жыл бұрын

    Its wonderful that you took the time and effort to commemorate these campaigns. Much appreciated. By the way, who is the artist and song in the background? Thnx in advance.

  • @normanbuffett4642
    @normanbuffett46426 ай бұрын

    Outstanding work, well done. The "aligators aka water buffalos" are amphibious tractors. The links you see are called tracs. Thanks for your efforts.

  • @Freepr411
    @Freepr41111 ай бұрын

    The place is a real dump

  • @snakeplisken4119

    @snakeplisken4119

    10 ай бұрын

    This looks just like our Indian reserves in Canada with garbage everywhere.

  • @964cuplove

    @964cuplove

    6 ай бұрын

    I guess all the plastic waste is coming from us polluting the oceans and they are just stuck with it

  • @Laotzu819
    @Laotzu8197 ай бұрын

    Great videos. And they are called "tracks'. Gave you a like and suscribed for your troubles :-) thanks!

  • @seandoolittle6144
    @seandoolittle61445 ай бұрын

    From looking at this video it's obvious that the residents treat the island as a giant garbage dump. It was amazing how much trash was strewn all over

  • @dougtheviking6503
    @dougtheviking65037 ай бұрын

    Although quite an awesome historical perspective. As an American our government and the Japanese government should help clean up that country . live ordinance, equipment, and importantly, the fallen.

  • @keithdavis9897
    @keithdavis9897Ай бұрын

    God Bless the U.S. Marines, my Dad was in the Army in the Pacific. The Marines fought gallantly. My concern is how the Marine command seemed to be so cavalier with their forces, on Tarawa. Peleliu is another good example. Seems they should have been more probing in their initial assault and when it went so bad, pull back and ADAPT. Bad intelligence, bad planning or both.

  • @mariorodrigues5796
    @mariorodrigues57966 ай бұрын

    Tenho um livro sobre Tarawa por um Fuzileiro do 6° Regimento "Grito de Guerra" muito bom Parabéns pelo vídeo 🗡🗡🗡🗡👊👊👊👊

  • @keithdavis9897
    @keithdavis9897Ай бұрын

    what was that music playing at the 2:30 mark....haha. I'd like to get the C.D or find it on Apple, or something

  • @Str8Bidness
    @Str8Bidness4 ай бұрын

    22.30. That a piece of the Cannon that was on the adjacent turret. The long spring is the shock absorber on the base.

  • @terryporche9059
    @terryporche9059 Жыл бұрын

    Should leave items like you find it. I would say engine ( heads)parts scattered around wing of plane

  • @lesmoore6443
    @lesmoore64439 ай бұрын

    Thanks for visiting these WWII sites in the Pacific. I might not get to many of them, so your videos are of special interest. The word you were looking for in relation to the amphibious tractors/"alligators" was "track", or "tread". Track, as in tracked vehicles. That one piece of track out in the water was incredibly intact, considering. Someone who knows WWII aircraft engines better than I might be able to take a guess at the aircraft type. Obviously radial engines, and it looked like 4 of them. Recall that Betio's airfield was used by US forces for some time after the island was taken in November '43, so it's likely the aircraft remains are from a crashed or abandoned plane from later, not during the battle.

  • @getoffenit7827
    @getoffenit78272 ай бұрын

    Excellent video whats the music in the background?

  • @Booze_Rooster
    @Booze_Rooster3 ай бұрын

    Europe rebuilt after two world wars. This island rebuilt itself from a war torn battlefield into a landfill.

  • @yyz4761
    @yyz4761Ай бұрын

    I had no idea that the island was even inhabited

  • @thenadonation2664
    @thenadonation26647 ай бұрын

    16:35 thats an old loading port for supplies that eventually filled in with sand.

  • @thenadonation2664
    @thenadonation26647 ай бұрын

    22:20 AA gun or anti ship gun in the samd that came off the blown turret.

  • @wolfganggugelweith8760
    @wolfganggugelweith87608 ай бұрын

    Brave Japanese soldiers!

  • @davehconner
    @davehconner4 ай бұрын

    It's a beautiful place, but it looks like the locals just drop their trash wherever they happen to be finished with it

  • @MrJodyh54
    @MrJodyh545 ай бұрын

    Can't believe he put his under that piece of steel on the beach. In the desert/tropics or any warm place, never ever reach under something as there may be snakes and scorpians under them!!

  • @thenadonation2664
    @thenadonation26647 ай бұрын

    Higgins boats dude.........

  • @tobydrewyou
    @tobydrewyou8 ай бұрын

    The rusting pontoon at 7.34 mins in is not WW2 related, must have happened after mid - 1970s. ( I lived there 68-74 )

  • @JimDandy49
    @JimDandy499 ай бұрын

    That place looks like a dump now. Literally.

  • @thenadonation2664
    @thenadonation26647 ай бұрын

    The bunker doesnt look badly damaged.....

  • @austinnicholl8891
    @austinnicholl889114 күн бұрын

    Utmost savagery. The most vicious battle of the entire war.

  • @michaelgallen1333
    @michaelgallen1333 Жыл бұрын

    The weekend before I went to Kiribati I just happened to watch a documentary on the battle of Tarawa. It showed the Americans using flame throwers and Japanese soldiers running out of the bunkers on fire. It was so weird to go into the bunkers after seeing that. Did you go there just to see the war relics or did you have some other reason for going? Lovely people there too. It is one of the most densely populated places in the world because the islands are only 100 or 200m wide. Even Betio is less than a kilometer wide. Thanks again for your film.

  • @surfdocer103
    @surfdocer1039 ай бұрын

    I think that plane wa a Hellcat

  • @brewmonsta6413
    @brewmonsta6413 Жыл бұрын

    Nothing like russians bunkers these are still standing

  • @petefinnegan3873
    @petefinnegan387310 ай бұрын

    b24 plane

  • @964cuplove
    @964cuplove6 ай бұрын

    Don’t think they died when getting stuck on the reef, they died fighting their way through the island

  • @gordontyree4308
    @gordontyree43087 ай бұрын

    As i watched your video, two things came to mind. One, leave the relics exactly as you find them! This is SACRED GROUND YOU ARE WALKING ON! MARINES DIED THERE AND SOME ARE STILL BURIED THERE! PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL! And two, WHERE IN THE HELL IS OUR GOVERNMENT? WHY ARE THESE SITES NOT BEING TAKEN CARE OF AND PRESERVED? IT SICKENS ME TO SEE THIS MESS! THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO GET THEIR SHIT TOGETHER AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS! SUCH BLATANT DISRESPECT FOR THOSE FALLEN MARINES! IT BREAKS MY HEART! DISGRACEFUL! I AM CONTACTING WASHINGTON, DC TO SEE WHO OVERSEES BATTLEFIELDS CLEANUP AND PRESERVATION. I AM A USAF VIETNAM ERA VETERAN AND IT’S THE LEAST I CAN DO FOR THOSE WHO GAVE ALL AT TARAWA! MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP THEM. SEMPER FI! 🇺🇸 THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO SIR! I HOPE THE VIDEO LIGHTS A FIRE UNDER A LOT OF VETERANS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS SHAMEFUL MESS….IT DID ME!

  • @rufusmedrano2962
    @rufusmedrano2962Ай бұрын

    Sad how these people live. Don’t take any pride in their island

  • @pippaul4279
    @pippaul42793 ай бұрын

    Tidy up the rubbish some one ..please

  • @alkatmerc5156
    @alkatmerc515610 ай бұрын

    As dirty as the locals are, maybe we should have let japan keep it.

  • @maetaakesamteetak909

    @maetaakesamteetak909

    9 ай бұрын

    every mess was only made by homeless people who had no restroom or toilets to use, instead, they sneaked using beautiful beaches dumping their mess. So sad especially using a sacred memorable place.

  • @964cuplove

    @964cuplove

    6 ай бұрын

    I guess all the plastic waste is coming from us polluting the oceans and they are just stuck with it

  • @minnieee123

    @minnieee123

    5 ай бұрын

    Go back to playing your video games. Islands were clean before y’all started capitalism. Now poverty is the result and overpopulation on the capital island with people seeking non existent jobs.

  • @douglasstreet7304
    @douglasstreet730410 ай бұрын

    LET'S MAKE IT VERY CLEAR. HISTORY has been screwed up by MANY so called professionals. THIS Sherman tank is an M4A2-Diesel engine and WAS NOT KNOCKED OUT. It drove into a shell hole and got stuck, the crew bailed. WHY they left her there is a mystery and WRONG ! Someone with some cash needs to bring her home. BRING HER HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!