What Japanese Commanders Wrote After U.S. Marines Took Their Island in 76 Hours

▶ Watch next: The German Major Who Saw D-Day First — another World War II story told from the other side of the battlefield:    • The German Major Who Saw D-Day First   A Japanese admiral believed it would take a million American soldiers a hundred years to take his island. The U.S. Marines took it in 76 hours. This is the story of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima — told through the words, reports, and battlefield records of the enemy commanders who faced the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific. Japanese commanders built bunkers, reefs, tunnels, and fortified islands to stop the Marines. Again and again, the math said the Americans should stop. They did not. On Guadalcanal, Chesty Puller’s line held through repeated night attacks near Henderson Field. Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone kept machine guns firing when the line was under pressure. At Tarawa, Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki believed Betio Island could resist any assault. The Marines took it in seventy-six hours. On Iwo Jima, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi built an underground fortress designed to make victory cost more than America could stand to pay. Germany never got this record. The Wehrmacht and the U.S. Marine Corps never fought each other directly in World War II. German officers formed their view of the American soldier from places like Kasserine, Normandy, the Ardennes, and the Rhine. But Japan saw a different kind of American fighting force in the Pacific — and what Japanese commanders wrote afterward tells the story. If someone in your family served during World War II, leave their name, branch, and where they served in the comments — so their name is written down one more time. World War II history, U.S. Marines, Marine Corps history, Battle of Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, John Basilone, Chesty Puller, Kuribayashi, Shibasaki, Pacific War, WWII documentary, enemy reports, Japanese commanders, amphibious warfare. Sources used for this video include: — U.S. Marine Corps official histories of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima — John Basilone Medal of Honor and Navy Cross records — U.S. Army and Marine Corps records on the Pacific War — Postwar German assessments of American fighting power — Historical records on Tarawa, Henderson Field, and Iwo Jima 00:00 Japanese Commanders vs U.S. Marines: The 76-Hour Island Battle 01:16 Why Germany Never Understood the U.S. Marine Corps 02:24 How the Marine Corps Prepared for Pacific Island Warfare 03:35 Guadalcanal 1942: Henderson Field and the First Marine Division 04:23 Chesty Puller’s Line Against the Japanese Night Attack 05:29 John Basilone at Guadalcanal: Machine Guns, Ammunition, and the Medal of Honor 06:36 Battle of Tarawa: The Island Japan Thought Could Not Fall 07:06 Marines Wade Ashore at Tarawa Under Machine-Gun Fire 07:29 Tarawa Taken in 76 Hours: Shibasaki’s Defenses Collapse 08:45 Iwo Jima 1945: Kuribayashi’s Underground Fortress 10:24 American Firepower and the 36-Day Battle for Iwo Jima 11:05 John Basilone Returns to Combat and Dies on Iwo Jima 11:47 The Iwo Jima Flag Raising Was Not the End of the Battle 12:28 What German Generals Never Wrote About the Marines 13:25 The Math Said Stop — The Marines Did Not Stop 14:13 Germany Never Got the Data. Japan Did. 14:23 Omaha Beach: The Next American Test Against Germany 14:52 Remembering World War II Veterans #USMarines #WWIIHistory #Tarawa #Guadalcanal #IwoJima