Tarawa: The Incredible Story of One of World War II's Bloodiest Battles

by Robert Sherrod

In the summer of 1943, at the height of World War II, battles were exploding all throughout the Pacific theater. In mid-November of that year, the United States waged a bloody campaign on Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll, the most heavily fortified Japanese territory in the entire Pacific. They were fighting to wrest control of the island to stage the next big push toward Japan—and one journalist was there to chronicle the horror. Dive into war correspondent Robert Sherrod’s battlefield account as he goes ashore with the assault troops of the U.S. Marines 2nd Marine Division in Tarawa. Follow the story of the U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division as nearly 35,000 troops take on less than 5,000 Japanese defenders in one of the most savage engagements of the war. By the end of the battle, only seventeen Japanese soldiers were still alive.This story, a must for any history buff, tells the ins and outs of life alongside the U.S. Marines in this lesser-known battle of World War II. The battle itself carried on for three days, but Sherrod, a dedicated journalist, remained in Tarawa until the very end, and through his writing, shares every detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military Fiction, Military History, War, American History

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1944

About the author

Robert Lee Sherrod was an American journalist, editor, and author. He was a war correspondent for Time and Life magazines, covering combat from World War II to the Vietnam War. During World War II, embedded with the United States Marine Corps, he covered the battles at Attu, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He also authored five books on World War II, including Tarawa: The Story of a Battle (1944) and the definitive History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II (1952).

Reviews

[Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The battle of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific for the size of the island and quantity of troops. "It lasted 76 hours and it left nearly 6,000 dead on half a square mile of coral sand." All in all there were nearly 9,000 casualties of the battle. Sherrod was a newsreporter who landed with the Marines. And though he is not able to give you an all encompassing account of the battle, he does give a very thorough one taken from the exact notes he wrote during the battle (which by the way is pretty remarkable that he was able to take such a detailed account during intense combat). I dog-eared so many pages, I finally gave in and went back and penciled underlinings on all my favorite quotes. Such bravery is hard to imagine.

[Rod Pyle]

Probably the best telling of this white-hot battle from someone who saw it all first-hand. Chilling.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reprint of a 1944 edition of a war correspondent's story of the invasion of Tarawa during World War II by the Second Marine Division and the Army's 27th Infantry Division. It is full of personal experiences and contains a list of the American casualties suffered at Tarawa.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the straight tic-toc of the battle for Betio Island in the Tarawa atoll in 1943. A Marine division attacked about 5000 japanese dug in on the island and took it in 6 days of incredibly bloody fighting, among the highest casualty rates the US has ever endured. Sherrod lands and keeps a straight diary of what happened, with lots of personal colour in the style of new reports of the day. This is a must read for any WWII enthusiast, for it is brief, compelling and illuminating. It is short enough to be a good introduction to more, nuance sources. A very easy, engrossing read although it might be too explicit for those below 8th grade.

[David Whip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful Book, Terrible Formatting

Yet another example of a book being scanned and released without any eyes on the pages. Somehow Amazon must put a stop to this practice.

[Bill Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fairly short book was first published in 1944. It is the first hand account of the horrific battle for the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands in the central Pacific Ocean in November 1943.

The author was a war correspondent who landed early on the first day of the battle and for the next several days lived on the front line with the men of the 2nd Marine Division. Thus this an memoir of what the author saw and experienced on Tarawa.

The battle was fought on Betio Island whose land mass was approximately 300 acres — approximately 16,000 marines opposed by less than 5,000 Japanese forces (over 1,000 of which were Koreans drafted into forced labor).

In such a confined space involving so many men and weapons, the fighting was brutal and deadly. For this and many other reasons Tarawa is a memorable engagement.

The author brings home the immediacy, brutality, suffering and death of this 3 day “killing match.” This is not a glorified not an analytic recounting of this battle. It is what one person saw and then wrote about.

Readers of this book should realize it comes from a time when the U.S. did not have TV, more less the internet. There was none of the “instant”, “24 hour”, “live” reporting with which we are inundated. Thus “the folks back home” slowly learned of what happened on Tarawa through terse, heavily redacted news releases issued after the battle; through the horrific casualty reports from the battle; and through the first hand accounts published by the few correspondents who actually went ashore under fire on the landing craft with the marines.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting to read combat reports published in war time. I feel like this one is a bit too hoo-ra, gong-ho, God & country but this is understandable. The realistic presentation of the intensity of combat, the errors made in planning & the high casualty rate is surprisingly honest. This connects to Sherrod's theme that people in the USA have had an easy life and need to be presented with some hard facts regarding the ongoing war in the Pacific.

It seems like Sherrod reports a high rate of suicide among the defending Japanese troops justified as their shock at the naval & air bombardment and the tenacity of the Marine assault. I know the Japanese would use suicide as a method of attack but it seems less likely that many would suicide in the face of the enemy.
Combined with the author's assertion that the Japanese were average to terrible marksmen, even with a machine gun, I think shows the propaganda element of talking down the abilities of the Japanese. The competence of the Japanese in constructing formidable defensive structures is paradoxically highlighted.

This is an interesting, detailed report on the Marine invasion of Tarawa by a guy who had the guts to go in unarmed as a reporter with the assault.

[Carl Palmateer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a correspondent who went in with the assault waves this details, at a personal level, the bloody attack. He maintains perspective for the reader by relating the general details of the battalion and regimental actions. Written almost immediately after the battle, published within a year of it (1944) well before the end of the war it has an urgency about the battle and the war you don't find in later memoirs. It is very much a book of the times as you look at style and viewpoints. Some though seem timeless, the growing disenchantment with the media on the part of the Marines as the media fail to make clear the difficulty of combat and the challenges ahead to win the war. The frustration with a public that either would not or could not understand the terrible hardships and sacrifices at the front. The anger at the unions, even by union men, at the continual strikes in the US while the war was going on.

A classic read, he shows that no matter how much ordinance, no matter the technology, in the end, its the infantry that has to go in and do the bloody, deadly work necessary to win a war.

[Phillip Manson]

I knew about the protection the coconut logs produced but I had never heard before of how many defensive positions the enemy had. The sniper problem was never mentioned specifically nor the case of snipers in the palm trees. The reports always seemed to indicate the palm trees were blown away by naval gunfire yet Sherrod tells of a good many trees still upright. The planning for this operation ignored the problem of the coral reef which caused most of the casualties and was well noted by the actor Edward Arnold who was a Higgins boat driver who saved many men by dropping them off at the tip of the island where the reef had a slight opening. Thank goodness the enemy didn't make a banzai charge the first night where the beachhead was a thin strip of sand. This is history really told instead of revised by the politicians who provided much less in funds to the Pacific War.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story from an early island battle of WW2. This battle taught the Americans and Japanese a couple of tactics. For the Americans, the need to shell the island with tons of shells for days before the landing. Also, close air support needs to be closer than what was considered safe at the time. The average marine also learned that the japs were not all scrawny and close sighted as the caricatures of the time was shown to them in basic training.

For the japs, they learned the tenacity of the American soldier in killing. They had the idea that Americans were not willing to die fighting for their nation. They considered Americans to be weak willed.

This was an incredibly deadly battle for both sides that put both nations on alert that these battles would be fought to the death and high death and causalities are the norm.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forced myself to read all the details about how men died in this battle. Terrible loss is life. The Marines were astonished at the fortifications the Japanese had built using huge, thick coconut logs and at those defenders who hid themselves in the top of coconut trees and sniped until they died. Death was prolonged because the trees were high, they secreted themselves well and probably didn't expect to survive.

Casualties were very high though for the most part details were kept from the American public to keep up morale at home. But the runways were not ruined and the Seabees were able to build on some of the fortifications the Japanese had built.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vivid account of one of the most costly offenses in WWII. Sherrod was a war correspondent who went ashore with the Marines on the first day. The four thousand Japanese on the island were in heavily fortified bunkers that days of bombardment didn’t phase. The Marines waded ashore under heavy machine gun fire and killed the defenders one by one. Only a handful of Japanese surrendered. The rest were killed or committed suicide. The cost: 700 American dead and 2000 wounded.
This book does not glamorize battle but describes it in grotesque and realistic terms. The only thing missing is the smell of rotting bodies.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent eyewitness account of the 3 day assault!! This should be required reading for every American. The sacrifices made by these selfless warriors guaranteed our freedoms and should never be forgotten!! The unimaginable fighting and defenses that the American warriors conquered are a true testament to American spirit!! Every able bodied American should be required to serve in the name of God, country, and family!! God bless our military!!!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Story of a Key Battle

Sherrod’s account of the taking of Tarawa offers a first hand account of the brutal, but significant battle. His details of both the landing and the aftermath paint a vivid picture of the heroism of the USMC. My only complaint is that the copy I read was filled with more misspellings than I could keep track of.. at times it was very distracting from the story.

[Jeff Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent read

This is an excellent first-hand account. Unfortunately, this edition seems to be an OCR scan that was never proofread. There are hundreds of scanning errors, a few of which obscure the text. My favorite is the list of men who were "Muled in action."

Regardless, it is a terrific read.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the book but could only give it three stars. could have done with a good proof reader. just to many misspelled words and other errors. very distracting and took away from the story. which is a story that needs to told from one man point of view. I enjoy reading these kind of books from the view of the person who was there.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more from this book

What was good was Sherrods observations of the home front. We have been told the home front was unequivocally behind the troops, with Victory Gardens, and bond drives, etc.

What the home front didn’t understand, and don’t understand to this day, is the incredible sacrifice of the men at the front.

[Lynne Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish it. The Kindle edition is overloaded with typos, probably from OCR scanning and zero proofreading. Sherrod is not a great writer and rambles too much. The text, written in 1943, is very flag waving. Understandable given the time but not palatable to this reader in 2021.
A MUCH better book is With The Old Breed by E.B. Sledge.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing first hand account of the battle for Tarawa. I think I learned about Sherrod in a documentary I saw that I cannot remember the name of. The book was published during the war, so he had to change the names of the ships he traveled on. I like this kind of first person history that describes what everyday life was like.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vivid account of one correspondents experience. Forever thankful for all the men who served in this battle especially my Uncle Michael “Mic” Selavka (mentioned on page 47) who was part of the thirty four men of the regimental Scout and Sniper Platoon and received the Silver Star Medal for his efforts at Tarawa, and Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry and heroism.

[David C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarawa

Nothing is more moving or eloquent or educational than to be confronted by a witness to the horrors of war,especially we soft Americans of the 21st century. Will we have the intestinal fortitude to do what needs to be done next time?

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A war journalist eyewitness account of six days on Tarawa during the invasion by the Marines. Going ashore in the third wave of assault boats on the first day of the invasion, Sherrod is able to survive and record images of the battle in his dispatched.

[Oscarc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary contemporary account of the Battle of Tarawa by a journalist who was there during the battle.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is the sense of "here-and-now," since it's based on the reporter's notes while the fighting was actually going on.

[Gerry Boocock · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to life

Written by someone who went through it and described it in the real fire of war. Chilling at times, stomach revolting at other times.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible Audiobook

[Randy Cherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great read and to read WWII from the time it was happening is very interesting. Warning: racist language.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story

[Matt Witter · Rating 5 out of 5]

31 grueling pages of MIA, KIA, and wounded. Semper fidelis indeed.

[Howard Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an OK book. There's nothing special about it. One Square Mile of Hell by another author is a better summary of the battle. Overall, I was disappointed. Expected more.