 |
 |
| . |
|
Today it's paradise, one of more than 200 lush islands in a reef-wrapped
Pacific chain. |
. |
| . |
| But on Sept. 15, 1944, when U.S. Marines landed for an
anticipated four-day fight, the tiny atoll had already been bombed into a scorched chunk of
scrub-covered coral. |
| . |
| The desolation was deceptive. Two months and 20,000 casualties later,
the islet was unrecognizable: a denuded, 5-square-mile tangle of tree stumps, smoldering tanks,
napalmed burrows, rotting corpses and engorged bluebottle flies. |
| . |
| Then it faded into oblivion -- a military
asterisk, unnoticed by journalists and forgotten by history. |
| . |
| But what happened here -- on one island, in its secret caves
and in the air and sea around it -- helped define the course of World War II in the
Pacific. |
| . |
| Throughout December, in a live, day-by-day journey, come
dive with us in the clear, warm waters and trek with us through the reborn jungle as we explore what
really went on here.
And why. |
| Backgrounder - Part 2 |
|
| . |
|
