Landing at Tarawa

“Landing at Tarawa” is the book’s cover and is from artwork done by artist Richard Gibney. Fittingly, the painting is in the Marine Corps Art Collection as the amphibious assault on Tarawa was the beginning of a steep learning curve for the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II. Mistakes were made, and learned from. The Navy created Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) and new weapons were developed. Tactics evolved and the United States continued to relentlessly retake islands occupied by Imperial Japan. Amphibious assaults which eventually led to the doorstep of Japan’s home islands.