Marine Tank Battles In The Pacific

No previous book has been devoted to Marine Corps armor in World War II. Gilbert's gripping narrative combines exhaustive detail on Marine armor and combat with moving eyewitness accounts, never before published, of what it was actually like to be a Marine tanker in action in the Pacific.

The author of Tanks in Hell tracks ten years of tank warfare in Vietnam, combining firsthand accounts from veterans with analysis of tactics and strategy. In 1965 the large, loud, and highly visible tanks of 3rd Platoon, B Company, 3rd Tank Battalion landed across a beach near Da Nang, drawing unwelcome attention to America’s first, almost covert, commitment of ground troops in South Vietnam. As the Marine Corps presence grew inexorably, the 1st and 3rd Tank Battalions, as well as elements of the reactivated 5th Tank Battalion, were committed to the conflict. For the United States Marine Corps, the protracted and bloody struggle was marked by controversy, but for Marine Corps tankers it was marked by bitter frustration as they saw their own high levels of command turn their backs on some of the hardest-won lessons of tank-infantry cooperation learned in the Pacific War and in Korea. Nevertheless, like good Marines, the officers and enlisted men of the tank battalions sought out the enemy in the sand dunes, jungles, mountains, paddy fields, tiny villages, and ancient cities of Vietnam. Young Marine tankers fresh out of training, and cynical veterans of the Pacific War and Korea, battled two enemies. The battle-hardened Viet Cong were masters of the art of striking hard, then slipping away to fight another day. The highly motivated troops of the North Vietnamese Army, equipped with long-range artillery and able to flee across nearby borders into sanctuaries where the Marines were forbidden to follow, engaged the Marines in brutal conventional combat. Both foes were equipped with modern anti-tank weapons, and sought out the tanks as valuable symbolic targets. It was a brutal and schizophrenic war, with no front and no rear, absolutely no respite from constant danger, against a merciless foe hidden among a helpless civilian population. Some of the duties the tankers were called upon to perform were long familiar, as they provided firepower and mobility for the suffering infantry in a never-ending succession of search and destroy operations, conducted amphibious landings, and added their heavy guns to the artillery in fire support missions. Under constant threat of ambushes and huge command-detonated mines that could obliterate both tank and crew in an instant, the tankers escorted vital supply convoys, and guarded the engineers who built and maintained the roads. In their “spare time” the tankers guarded lonely bridges and isolated outposts for weeks on end, patrolled on foot to seek out the Viet Cong, operated roadblocks and ambushes, shot up boats to interdict the enemy’s supply lines, and worked in the villages and hamlets to better the lives of the brutalized civilians. To the bitter end—despite the harsh conditions of climate and terrain, confusion, endless savage and debilitating combat, and ultimate frustration as their own nation turned against the war—the Marine tankers routinely demonstrated the versatility, dedication to duty, and matchless courage that Americans have come to expect of their Marines.

An extraordinary slice of untold WWII history: how unproven Marines driving untested Sherman tanks turned the tide against Japan in the Battle of Tarawa. In May 1943, a self-described “really young, green, ignorant lieutenant” assumed command of a new US Marine Corps company. His even younger Marines were learning to operate an untested weapon, the M4A2 “Sherman” medium tank. Just six months later, the company would be thrown into one of the ghastliest battles of World War II. On November 20, 1943, the 2nd Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the powerful Japanese defenses on the atoll of Tarawa. In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks—of which only two survived—played a pivotal role in achieving a legendary victory. In this fascinating study, Oscar E. Gilbert and Romain V. Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, and interviews with veterans, as well as personal and aerial photographs, to follow Charlie Company from its formation. Tracing the movement, action, and fall of individual tanks, Tanks in Hell offers “a personal, beach-level view of the Marine island campaign” (Marine Corps History).

Robert M. Neiman was one of the rare USMC officers to serve in both Iwo Jima and Okinawa battles. In this book, Neiman and his co-author, Kenneth W. Estes, relay vivid accounts of fighting in the Pacific War, as well as Marine Corps service during the entire World War II period.

An award-winning military historian delivers “an excellent read” on tank combat in the Forgotten War based on interviews with veterans who were there (MAFVA.org). The outbreak of the Korean conflict caught America (and the Marine Corps) unprepared. The Corps' salvation was the existence of its Organized Reserve (an organization rich in veterans of the fighting in World War II), the availability of modern equipment in storage and, as always, the bravery, initiative, and adaptability of individual Marines. In this follow-up to his enormously successful Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific, Oscar Gilbert presents an equally exhaustive and detailed account of the little-known Marine tank engagements in Korea, supported by forty-eight photographs, eight original maps, and dozens of survivor interviews. Marine Corps Tank Battles in Korea details every action, from the valiant defense at Pusan and the bitter battles of the Chosin Reservoir, to the grinding and bloody stalemate along the Jamestown Line. Many of these stories are presented here for the first time, such as the unique role played by tanks in the destruction of the ill-fated Task Force Drysdale, how Marine armor played a key role in the defense of Hagaru, and how a lone tank made it to Yudamni and then led the breakout across the high Toktong Pass. Marine tankers—individually and as an organization—met every challenge posed by this vicious, protracted, and forgotten war. It is a story of bravery and fortitude you will never forget.

During World War II, the US Marine Corps formed six tank battalions that battled through the harsh conditions of the Pacific Theatre. Using the same basic tanks as the US Army, notably the M3 and M5A1 light tanks and the M4 Sherman medium tank, the marines made both technical and tactical innovations to make them more effective in the fight against the Japanese. Deep wading equipment, flamethrower tanks, and even wooden armor all became part of the Marine arsenal. This book examines the tactics and technology that made the US Marine Corps tank service unique in the annals of warfare.

“Together these books provide the definitive history of the USMC’s tank forces . . . Very highly recommended” (Military Modelcraft International). Marine Corps Tank Battles in Korea: A detailed and gripping account of the little-known Marine tank engagements during the Korean War, from the valiant defense at Pusan and the bitter battles of the Chosin Reservoir to the bloody stalemate along the Jamestown Line. Oscar E. Gilbert unfolds the unique role played by tanks in the destruction of the ill-fated Task Force Drysdale, how Marine armor was a key factor in the defense of Hagaru, and how a lone tank made it to Yudamni and then led the breakout across the high Toktong Pass. Marine Corps Tank Battles in Vietnam: In 1965 the large, loud, and highly visible tanks of 3rd Platoon, B Company, 3rd Tank Battalion landed across a beach near Da Nang, drawing unwelcome attention to America’s first, almost covert, commitment of ground troops in South Vietnam. Marine Corps tankers sought out the enemy in the sand dunes, jungles, mountains, paddy fields, tiny villages, and ancient cities of Vietnam, dealing with guerrilla ambushes from the Viet Cong and the long-range artillery capability of the North Vietnamese Army. Marine Corps Tank Battles in the Middle East: In America’s longest continual conflict, armored Marines became entangled in guerrilla war amid the broiling deserts, ancient cities, and rich farmlands of Iraq, and in the high, bleak wastes of Afghanistan. Fighting a fanatical foe who brutalized civilians, planted sophisticated roadside bombs, and seized control of entire cities, the Marine Corps tankers cleared roads, escorted convoys, conducted endless sweep operations to locate and destroy insurgent strongholds, protected voting sites for free elections, and recaptured and rebuilt urban centers, even adding a new trick to their repertoire: long-range surveillance. Tanks in Hell: On November 20, 1943, the 2nd Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory.

In the aftermath of Vietnam a new generation of Marines was determined to wage a smarter kind of war. The tank, the very symbol of power and violence, would play a key role in a new concept of mobile warfare, not seen since the dashes of World War II. The emphasis would be not on brutal battles of attrition, but on paralyzing the enemy by rapid maneuver and overwhelming but judicious use of firepower. Yet in two wars with Iraq, the tankers, as well as the crews of the new Light Armored Vehicles, quickly found themselves in a familiar roleÑbattering through some of the strongest defenses in the world by frontal assault, fighting their way through towns and cities. In AmericaÕs longest continual conflict, armored Marines became entangled in further guerilla war, this time amid the broiling deserts, ancient cities, and rich farmlands of Iraq, and in the high, bleak wastes of Afghanistan. It was a familiar kind of war against a fanatical foe who brutalized civilians, planted sophisticated roadside bombs, and seized control of entire cities. It has been a maddening war of clearing roads, escorting convoys, endless sweep operations to locate and destroy insurgent strongholds, protecting voting sites for free elections, and recapturing and rebuilding urban centers. ItÕs been a war in which the tanks repeatedly provided the outnumbered infantry with precise and decisive firepower. The tankers even added a new trick to their repertoireÑlong-range surveillance. Our fights against Iraq in 1991 and in the post-9/11 years have seen further wars that demanded that unique combination of courage, tenacity, professionalism, and versatility that makes a Marine no better friend, and no worse enemy. This book fully describes how our Marine Corps tankers have risen to the occasion.

From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater -- and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them. With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality of its fighters, who refused to surrender, even when faced with insurmountable odds. Taking down Japan would require an unrelenting attack to break its national spirit, and launching such an attack on the island empire meant building an operations base just off its shores on the island of Okinawa. The amphibious operation to capture Okinawa was the largest of the Pacific War and the greatest air-land-sea battle in history, mobilizing 183,000 troops from Seattle, Leyte in the Philippines, and ports around the world. The campaign lasted for 83 blood-soaked days, as the fighting plumbed depths of savagery. One veteran, struggling to make sense of what he had witnessed, referred to the fighting as the "crucible of Hell." Okinawan civilians died in the tens of thousands: some were mistaken for soldiers by American troops; but as the US Marines spearheading the invasion drove further onto the island and Japanese defeat seemed inevitable, many more civilians took their own lives, some even murdering their own families. In just under three months, the world had changed irrevocably: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; the war in Europe ended; America's appetite for an invasion of Japan had waned, spurring President Truman to use other means -- ultimately atomic bombs -- to end the war; and more than 250,000 servicemen and civilians on or near the island of Okinawa had lost their lives. Drawing on archival research in the US, Japan, and the UK, and the original accounts of those who survived, Crucible of Hell tells the vivid, heart-rending story of the battle that changed not just the course of WWII, but the course of war, forever.