It never fails to impress me, the level of intensity of which the landing beaches were shelled. Even today you can walk along the beaches and stumble upon large shrapnel fragments that rained down upon the Marines. Some of these are the size of your hand, and even larger! If there was one weapon that the Japanese used with brutal efficiency, it would have to be their artillery. The entire landing area was “dialed-in” with preregistered firing coordinates that allowed the Japanese gunners and mortarmen to saturate the “Marine” targets. As the sand was nothing but loose volcanic ash, it was next to impossible for the Marines to dig-in and seek cover from the incessant Japanese shelling.

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