All language subtitles for The.Pacific.War.in.Color.S01E04.The.Enemy.Underground.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

By 1944, the American war machine

is at full throttle.

They are pushing Japan
back across the Pacific,

island by island.

But the next island
is different - Saipan.

As they hit the beach,

I could see the
bullets striking the water.

And fly into fire.

A zero zoomed
right in front of me.

Relive an
historic naval battle

with color combat footage

and uncover a simmering rivalry
that Saipan blows wide open.

Hear the voices
and feel the fight.

He said, by
this time tomorrow,

some of you won’t be here.

Hawaii, January 1944.

The attack on Pearl
Harbor was two years ago.

After a rough start
to the Pacific War,

America is finding its footing.

Instead of a battleground,
Hawaii is now a playground

for troops on leave.

The fighting seems
very far away.

But the war’s leaders are
right here in Pearl Harbor,

hotly debating the
competing strategies

of admiral Chester Nimitz and
general Douglas MacArthur.

MacArthur wants to focus
the action in his command

- the Southwest Pacific.

Nimitz wants to push up his
territory, the Central Pacific,

with an island-hopping campaign
of amphibious assaults.

The Gilberts were a disaster.

The Marshalls went better.

The next step is the
Marianas, including Saipan.

The Marianas are a far larger
and more distant target.

Invading would be a
logistical nightmare

and give island-hopping
an extraordinary test.

Nimitz is confident.

MacArthur is skeptical.

He thinks island hopping
is inefficient and bloody.

But one airplane’s
potential tips the scale.

When the workers
reported for the first time,

few of them guessed
the exact nature

of what they were building.

They were building the
mightiest aircraft in history.

A new war
plane is in production

- the Boeing B-29.

It will be the most
powerful bomber yet

with the greatest range.

If Nimitz can take the Marianas

from there the B-29
could reach Tokyo.

If engineers can get it to fly.

Early on, we had engine problems.

We had lots of problems.

At a training ground in Kansas,

crews handpicked to
fly B-29s keep waiting

for their airplanes to show up.

We were training
in B-17s, and we kept saying,

where is this big baby
that we volunteered for?

The military wants it fast,

but rushing a new weapon
to war can backfire.

One test flight crashes
in the middle of Seattle

killing more than 30.

By the time America decides
to invade the Marianas,

100 B-29s have been delivered,
but only 15 are airworthy.

For the Marianas to
be worth the pain,

this airplane would have
to keep its promise.

Before this war, the Marianas
already endured centuries

of imperial power struggles.

The succession of rulers
included Spain, Germany,

America and now Japan.

The native Chamorro people
suffered through them all.

Now, another invasion
force is on its way.

Toward the end of May,

the 27th infantry
division in Hawaii

was getting ready
to sail for Saipan.

The ports of Hawaii
are bursting at the seams.

Every battle begins
on these docks.

From army troops
to marine hardware,

the burden to carry
it all is on the Navy.

But they’ve never supported
an invasion as far as Saipan.

It’s a mathematical and
logistical war unto itself.

110 ships, loaded to the limit.

32 days of food rations
for about 128,000 troops.

20 days of ammunition,
fuel and oil.

Amphibious assault vehicles
and heavy artillery.

In all, 75,000 tons of cargo
needs to fit somewhere.

Every nook and cranny is packed
with something or someone.

Marines like Charles
Pase are apprehensive

about leaving Hawaii in
the rear view mirror.

It was an enjoyable place.

We hated to leave.

In fact, we doubly
hated to leave

because we had a pretty fair
idea where we were going.

On mainland Asia, the Japanese

are also struggling to wage
war over great distances.

In China, they set hillsides
ablaze with incendiary bombs,

just to spread fear.

In Burma, Allied
forces fight back.

Americans give jeeps to
the British and Chinese.

And drop supplies
to local fighters.

Crates of weapons end up
on the backs of elephants

for delivery into the jungle.

By 1944, Japan is backpedaling.

Burmese guerillas march
POWs into captivity,

symbolic of Japan’s slipping
foothold on mainland Asia.

Out in the Pacific,
they race to fortify

their island colonies.

Emperor Hirohito
knows what’s at stake.

He delivers a message
to his troops.

If Saipan is
lost, air raids on Tokyo

will take place often.

You absolutely must hold Saipan.

By June 14th, some
32,000 Japanese

are digging in to defend it.

An admiral predicts the attack
could come within a month.

The Americans will
land the very next day.

Convoys were nearing Saipan.

These men would be crawling
through brush and cane fields,

fighting for every foot
of Japanese ground.

As the force approaches Saipan,

they know amphibious assaults
are a work in progress.

The learning curve is
littered with dead marines.

Roy Roush remembers
the mood as solemn.

The day before we
landed, our company commander

shook hands with every man and
talked to him for a moment.

He wished every one of us
the best of luck and said,

unfortunately I know
by this time tomorrow,

some of you won’t be here.

On the morning of D-day,

the Navy rains
destruction on Saipan.

Firing from afar, they sacrifice
accuracy for sheer volume.

Then 150 carrier planes
take the battle up close.

Braving return fire,
they pound the beaches

to soften them up
for the landing.

The plan calls for the
first wave of troops

to land at 08:30, with
many waves to follow.

This was the big one.

No one spoke, every man
was tense, but ready.

They’re going in.

Previous island invasions
caused heavy casualties

so they try a new approach.

Heavily-armed amphibious
tanks lead the way

with troop tractors
following close behind.

They hope the tanks can
blast their way inland

so troops don’t have to get
out on the exposed beach.

Nobody wants Marines
wading ashore

in blood-stained waters
like they had at Tarawa.

But the enemy learned
lessons from the same battle.

Japanese film reveals
more elaborate pillboxes

with clear sight
lines to the invaders.

They’ve even planted
distance flags in the water.

The entire lagoon
is pre-sighted.

Americans are right
in their cross hairs.

Colonel James Donovan
is commanding one

of the landing craft,
trailing a tank

that was supposed
to provide cover.

I could see the
bullets striking the water

right in front of us.

I told the men to get
down as low as they could.

Next thing, my lieutenant
was hit in his left shoulder.

he looked down to his shoulder

and his left eye was shot out.

The man standing next to
me had his head knocked off

by an anti-tank round.

The leading tanks can’t stop

the volley of incoming shells.

Behind them, men are
getting cut into pieces.

Donovan decides it’s better
to let the survivors out

to fend for themselves
on the beach.

We landed at the
water’s edge and we all climbed

out of that tractor.

It was a bloody mess back there.

Chaos unfolds as
the men scramble for cover.

Instead of leapfrogging
the beach as planned,

they’re stuck on it.

We ran right
into the battalions

that landed ahead of us and
they hadn’t gone very far.

one battalion
fights for an hour

and advances only 12
yards past the beach.

Many just have to
crouch in the sand

and keep their heads down.

More waves of troops wait
offshore to join the fight.

They see boats coming back
with wounded or worse.

One of them just
had a pile of hands and feet

and parts of guys,
about five feet high.

Instead of quickly
slicing their way inland,

it’s a slow, bloody push.

It got pretty noisy.

The smoke drifting around.

A mess of dead bodies
and abandoned equipment.

It was an eerie scene out there.

D-day on Saipan is a rough start,

but the marines gain
their first foothold.

By day’s end, they secure
six miles of beach,

up to a half mile inland,
about two thirds of their goal.

June 15th is full
of hits and misses,

trial and error,

bravery and blunders.

It’s a very long day.

And for some, their last.

There are 2,000
dead and injured.

The marines have made their
first sacrifices on Saipan.

The navy is next.

As night falls on
D-day, an American sub

spies a large armada on the
way from the Philippine sea.

The Japanese are coming
to wrestle the island

back from the invaders.

America decides to
go meet them head on.

Sailors get an
emergency briefing

- they’re heading
back out to sea.

First, they dump ashore
all the supplies they can

in short order.

Ground forces squabble
over what’s left.

They steal each other’s supplies

in what they call
midnight requisitions.

Marines take 33 army trucks
and won’t give them back.

On land, it’s logistical chaos.

At sea, it’s an uneasy calm.

Playing hide and seek
with aircraft carriers

is a new kind of warfare.

With longer-range planes, the
Japanese may strike first.

Ed Harrell is game
to chase them anyway.

We didn’t know what
all was going to take place,

but we didn’t run from them.

Never.

The battle
of the Philippine sea

will be the biggest carrier
battle in naval history,

If the fleets can
find each other.

American radar picks
up incoming planes.

The Japanese have found them.

Carriers scramble their
F6F Hellcats to meet them.

The two massive navies are
still hundreds of miles apart.

So it comes down to one
pilot against another,

in white-knuckle,
split-second dogfights.

American ships blast
away from below.

Wallace Brunton is onboard the
UUSS Callahan - a destroyer.

We knew they weren’t
trying to bomb destroyers.

They were after the carriers.

All we had to do
was shoot at them.

Japan made its planes lighter

by shedding heavy armor.

They gained range,
but lost muscle.

In aerial fistfights, they
simply can’t take a punch.

American Hellcats shoot
down over 20 planes

from the first attack wave.

Naval anti-aircraft
fire hit a dozen more.

One Japanese bomber scores a hit

on the battleship South Dakota.

24 sailors are killed
under a halo of smoke.

Then the second
attack wave comes in.

128 planes.

Navy pilot George Kirk joins
the fray in his Hellcat.

A zero came and
zoomed right in front of me.

He was chasing another Hellcat.

We crossed and I was
able to light him up.

I saved that other guy.

This attack wave fares

even worse than the first.

They hit no ships at all
and many end up in the sea.

By the time the fourth
Japanese wave comes in,

They are scattered
and disorganized.

Some don’t even find
the American fleet.

They ran out of good pilots.

They didn’t teach
those guys to land.

They just told them to get
out there and kill you.

Kirk gets close enough

to look right into
an enemy cockpit.

The pilot was
just staring straight ahead.

Like a little kid,
just scared to death.

It’s a complete rout.

Americans nickname it the
Great Marianas turkey shoot.

But they still don’t
know where enemy planes

are coming from.

The Japanese carrier fleet
remains beyond American eyes.

The chance to
strike a killer blow

appears to be
sinking with the sun.

The next morning,
Americans are hell bent

on finding the enemy fleet.

Scout planes hunt over the open
seas all day, without luck.

They fear the enemy
has retreated.

Then at 4:00 p.m., they find
the Japanese 275 miles away.

Sailors get word to
scramble their planes.

Ed Harrell remembers
the adrenaline rush.

It was like you were
hollering at a football game

because we knew we
were going after them.

In the low afternoon light,

200 Hellcats take off
in just 20 minutes.

This might be their last chance
to strike the Japanese navy.

But it’s a risky decision.

The enemy fleet is too far
For the shorter-range Hellcats

to safely make round trip.

And it’s too late to
return in daylight.

There were hundreds
of planes out there.

We didn’t have any experience
at all night flying.

At dusk, American
pilots find the fleet.

There isn’t much time.

Some of the smaller ships
can move at 40 knots,

a tricky target.

Bigger ships attract
more attention.

The biggest prize
finally comes into view.

A carrier.

From above, it appears
to be a solid hit.

Japanese film shows the
chaos unfolding below.

Gunners try to
repel the Americans.

The carrier deck is so damaged,

Japanese pilots
can’t land on it.

Instead, they have to
ditch in the water.

The sea was covered with
Japanese sailors

hanging on for life with
no thought that anyone

would ever pick them up.

There were no ships
left to rescue them.

The Japanese Navy is
fighting for its life.

With bombs from above
and torpedoes from below,

Americans take out five
ships, including a carrier.

Some will limp away.

Others are simply blown away.

There’s no time to celebrate.

They have to fly
back in the dark.

Many crash land into the ocean,

hoping for rescue the next day.

Others make it back
and risk landing

a crippled plane at night.

Over both days, Americans
lose 100 planes and 50 men.

But Japanese losses are
at least four times worse.

For them, it’s a
crushing setback

and they won’t fully recover.

It’s a decisive
American victory.

Since the battle of
Midway two years earlier,

they have gained the upper
hand in the wide-open seas.

But the tiny islands
continue to give them fits.

Once ashore on Saipan, one
of the first objectives

is Aslito airfield.

It’s a potential
base for the B-29

so they expect heavy defenses.

The route to the airfield
is through thick fields

of Saipan’s principal crop.

There were
thousands of acres

of sugar cane fields, very
dense and about head high.

They provided ideal
cover for snipers

or infiltrating Japanese.

Hidden within the maze of cane

and, on the ridge above,
Japanese ambush the Americans.

They’re pinned down for
hours in the fields.

Finally, they take to
burning their way through,

not knowing who might be
hiding just yards away.

Another company gets
hung up in a village,

trying to discern
soldier from civilian.

The solid line of
advance breaks down

and American missteps
make matters worse.

Army and Marine units
are fighting side by side

and the chain of
command gets confusing.

One officer keeps
calling headquarters

to find out who
he’s working for.

A combat team launches
an attack at 07:30,

not hearing they were
supposed to wait until 09:30.

And one entire regiment is stuck

without communications
equipment.

It never got off the
ship before it pulled out

for the naval battle.

With small arms,
field artillery,

tank blasts and fire,

Americans blast away through
the dangerous cane fields

qnd approach an
airfield that promises

even stiffer resistance.

But the next day, the enemy
seems to have disappeared.

Aslito airfield is abandoned.

The hulking remnants of
bombed out Japanese aircraft

litter the tarmac.

Troops find exactly
one Japanese soldier,

hiding in the control tower.

Otherwise, they are gone.

This airfield is one
of the key prizes

of the whole island chain.

Americans will soon
prepare it for the B-29.

Why the Japanese left it
for the taking is a mystery.

Maybe American bombs
made them flee?

Or maybe they found a
better place to fight?

Moving northward, Americans
approach mount Tapotchau,

Saipan’s tallest peak.

If they want the island,
they’ll have to take

its highest ground.

They form a line to
push around and over it.

Marine units have either side
and the 27th Army Division

leads the push up the middle.

The 27th set up a command post

and established contact
with the marines

to coordinate an attack
on mount Tapotchau.

In charge of the
27th is general Ralph Smith,

A quiet, cerebral presence
on the battlefield.

His path is dictated by
geography through a valley,

framed on one side by
the mountain’s cliffs

and the other by
a high ridge line.

As the action gets thick,
Army units under Ralph Smith

take a pounding in the middle
and don’t advance as fast

as the marines on either side.

At times, they are pinned
down flat for hours

and can’t even lift their heads.

Many are forced to retreat.

On the flanks, the
marines begin to question

the Army’s tactics.

We knew what the hell

was going on with
the 27th Division.

They just up and ran
back, leaving us exposed.

Ralph Smith orders
the 27th to get going.

Advance of 50 yards in
one and a half hours

is most unsatisfactory.

Start moving at once.

Responding to the pressure,

one commander pulls up his unit

and runs them headlong
up the valley.

50 yards later, they
hit a downpour of lead.

The commander is shot
in the head and killed.

The Army nicknames
their surroundings,

Death Valley and
Purple Heart Ridge.

Japanese are nested up on
either side of the valley.

Approaching from the
south, American artillery

has no clear shot.

Army troops have to
advance with little cover.

For the Japanese, it’s like
shooting fish in a barrel.

We couldn’t
fathom where in the hell

they were at.

We knew if a guy stood
up, he’d get popped.

Marine general
Holland Smith is overseeing

the entire invasion
force on Saipan.

He’s a brash bulldog of
a man, in stark contrast

to the quieter Ralph
Smith of the Army.

When he realizes the 27th is
lagging behind the marines

by almost a mile, he sends
Ralph Smith a clear message.

Commanding general is
highly displeased

with the failure of
the 27th Division

advance and seize
objectives as ordered.

Privately, Holland Smith questions

the Army’s stomach for combat.

The 27th Division won’t fight
and Ralph Smith

will not make them fight.

it all comes
to a head on June 24th.

Holland Smith relieves
Ralph Smith of his command.

Tommy Thompson
witnesses the encounter

while standing guard nearby.

He grabbed him by the
shirt, backed him up

against the tent pole, and said,

you son of a bitch, get
the hell off this island.

You’re going back to Hawaii.

Army Brass retaliates.

One calls Holland Smith
prejudiced against the Army.

Another wants him
out of the Pacific.

Even Ralph Smith sounds off.

No Army combat
troops should ever again

be permitted to serve
under Holland M. Smith.

The tension between all
three services

spills out into the open.

Newspapers pounce on it and
the rivalry goes public.

Bickering reaches all the
way up to admiral Nimitz.

But among the ground
troops, the damage is done.

There is finger pointing.

Distrust.

And the questioning
of one’s guts.

Army grunts take it personally

as if they haven’t been
fighting hard enough.

America’s decision to push
up the Central Pacific

puts all the pressure on
distant island warfare.

So far, the pressure is showing.

Our living conditions were crude.

Your shaving kit was
your steel helmet.

We had trench latrines.

One thing we didn’t have
was the terrible weather

they had in England.

For most Americans,

Saipan is their first
taste of the tropics.

The heat and humidity
can be oppressive.

When allowed to pull
back from the front,

troops try to reset
both mind and body.

We hadn’t had a bath in a month.

You pulled off your socks and
most of your skin came off.

Any chance to get
halfway clean is a godsend.

Privacy, or no privacy.

There’s also
do-it-yourself laundry.

Clothes were so dirty

they’d stand up by themselves.

With only one uniform,
they make do.

Any food that is not canned
field rations is another treat.

It’s not home cooking, but
it’s still worth the wait.

They would make a five pound

can of coffee in a barrel.

It was the prettiest
foam you ever saw.

Some of the best cup of
coffee I ever had in my life

was on that island.

Downtime gives the men a chance

to swap stories and
compare battle souvenirs.

Jack lent even commandeers
a Japanese bike

to visit some buddies
in another unit.

They said, how in the world
did you get up here?

I said I rode right
up that main road.

They said, we haven’t
captured it yet.

I went right through the
Japanese lines on a bicycle.

I think I went back
at 90 miles an hour.

Rest also offers
a rare chance to reflect.

Men of the cloth
like Vernon Hanks

feel especially valuable
serving troops in distress.

I might give
the sacrament to 500 men

in a short length of time.

Those boys were
really appreciative.

But nothing
is quite as valuable

as a letter from home.

Anything that takes their
minds off the war is welcome.

But then it’s time to
go back and do the job.

There’s a lot of
unfinished business

back on mount Tapotchau.

The battle around mount
Tapotchau is slow and bloody,

but this high ground is key
to the American advance.

With no good angle
for support artillery,

troops will have to march
up Purple Heart Ridge

and take out the Japanese
with small arms, mortars,

machine guns and grenades.

It’s an uphill
battle in every way.

One company leaves at sunrise
and loses 12 men before 09:30.

Joe Brown is trying to carry
the wounded off the slope

when enemy fire
catches up with him.

They opened up on
us and most of us dove off.

We had to drop the stretcher
cases and they killed them.

This boy, T.T. Moore out of
Dallas, sat down on his knees

and said, boy, that
was a close one.

Then a machine gun opened
up and hit him in the rear

and a bullet came out his chest.

With the hidden
Japanese so hard to engage,

Americans resort
to throwing fire.

We heard the
moaning and groaning.

You could smell the dead.

The odor kept getting
stronger and stronger.

For the first time,

Americans deploy
flame-throwing tanks.

Here, a lone Japanese
soldier runs for his life.

Slowly and at high
cost, Americans take

Purple Heart Ridge,

allowing artillery to
blast across Death Valley

at cave emplacements on the
face of mount Tapotchau.

10 days after landing,
Americans take the peak.

General Holland Smith
climbs up himself,

pointing out the strategic
value of a mountain

that cost so much blood
- 4,000 casualties.

Much of it was spilled by
the Army’s 27th Division,

men Holland Smith had
dismissed as ineffective.

Fighting downhill should
be a welcome relief.

There are wounds to heal,
both physical and operational.

But they aren’t the only
ones suffering on Saipan.

Thousands of natives and
their children

caught in the
advance of our troops

streamed through
designated safety zones

to the internment camps.

Whatever armies
call a theater of war,

there are people
who call it home.

Saipan’s 25,000
residents are stuck

in a self-contained war zone.

Troops funnel as many
as possible into camps.

Some of them are
Koreans, who have lived

under Japanese rule
for decades and treated

as little more than slaves.

Many are being killed
alongside the Japanese

because Americans can’t
easily tell them apart.

The unfolding tragedy gets the
attention of admiral Nimitz.

He invites a Korean-American
minister from Honolulu,

father Noah Cho, to
accompany the marines.

On Saipan, he persuades
hundreds of Koreans to come out

of hiding and accept
the invaders as friends,

even leading three
cheers for the Americans.

yay!

Yay!

Yay!

Not all civilians are convinced.

Japanese propaganda warned
of marauding Americans

prone to rape,
torture and murder.

Even as troops try to lure
them out with a helping hand,

some cannot bring
themselves to accept it.

You weren’t
supposed to shoot them.

You would hold up this leaflet.

A lot of them were
saved that way.

But you had to be careful, too.

A lot of them were soldiers.

When they aren’t
sure who’s hiding inside,

all bets are off.

If they won’t come out,
Americans won’t go in.

This was Garapan.

Once a clean, tidy
tropical town,

that our bombardment had now
reduced to a pile of rubble.

Garapan was a modern
town of 14,000.

The proud Japanese had called it

the Tokyo of the south seas.

Now, there is little
left to fight over.

But ground troops still
have to secure it.

This is the first
major street fight

of the island-hopping campaign.

The remnants and rubble
are as tough to fight

through as a mountain
full of caves.

It takes four days to win.

When we went through
Garapan, this really modern

little city just disappeared.

The remains had to be
bulldozed into the sea.

If this is the fate

of the Tokyo of the south seas,

Japan surely fears
for Tokyo itself.

After the devastating losses
around mount Tapotchau,

Americans push northward
with relative ease.

Most Japanese
fight to the death.

But this soldier defies
the norm and surrenders.

Captured POWs reveal
they can barely

organize themselves anymore.

Japanese commanders relay
the situation to superiors.

Forces are completely wiped out.

No fighting strength
can be expected of them.

There are few units left intact.

Soldiers are in
improvised groups,

bound together only
by circumstance.

They have little water.

Many have been
subsisting on sugar cane.

But still, they
fight to the end.

The final days on
Saipan will shock

even the most hardened soldier.

12 days after landing,

Americans move into the
northern end of the island.

Thousands of Japanese
soldiers remain alive,

desperate, but still deadly.

Pockets of resistance
are scattered but fierce.

It can take days to untie
a single, well-placed

underground knot
with one brutal blow.

Americans rely on
overwhelming firepower.

And sometimes, pure fire.

There is still bad blood
between the services.

The Army asks the
marines for some tanks.

They refuse.

There are still
military mix-ups.

Ammunition is getting low.

Planners had used the smaller
Marshall and Gilbert islands

to predict the needs for Saipan.

But Saipan has been
anything but predictable.

It’s taking more than
three weeks to win.

Even as the northern
coast comes into view,

it’s not coming easy.

And the human cost, on both
sides, is about to skyrocket.

Civilians on Saipan face
a final, confusing choice.

Surrender yourself
or kill yourself.

Emperor Hirohito encourages
suicide over capture.

They had been pretty
thoroughly brainwashed.

They were scared to death.

When the war squeezes
remaining citizens

to the water’s edge, an
unthinkable tragedy unfolds.

That cliff was about
200 feet down to the rocks.

One woman had a little boy
and she just flung him out.

Then, she jumped.

Hundreds take their own lives

by jumping,

by grenade,

by knife.

I wish I couldn’t see it anymore.

But I still can.

Survivors cling
to a thread of hope

- of life beyond war.

The final days on Saipan

are like picking
through a minefield.

Hidden groups of Japanese,
even lone soldiers,

make every step uncertain.

And they have one more
surprise in store.

Would you believe
a Japanese jumped out

and played charge on a bugle?

Guys poked their heads
up out of their foxholes.

Somebody shot him and
the battle was on.

Some 3,000 Japanese
come out of hiding

and race directly at the
Americans in a banzai charge

- one of the last forms
of honorable suicide.

It’s the biggest banzai
attack of the Pacific War.

Major Edward McCarthy is
one of the few officers

to survive it.

We were in the foxholes

and the Japs ran right over us.

It was like a stampede in
the old wild west movies.

If you shot one, five
more would take his place.

Men scramble to defend themselves

with no sense of
clear battle lines.

Some American positions
are completely overrun.

This little Jap
came up with that bayonet

and it went in my arm
between the bones.

It takes 24 hours
for the Japanese to exhaust

their final attack in
this burst of blood.

It’s nothing short
of a massacre.

Many die clutching the only
crude weapons they have left.

It’s their last revenge
on the invading force.

Almost 1,000 Americans
are killed or wounded

in this final offensive purge.

Surely, some of them were
on Saipan from the start

and upon seeing
the northern coast,

thought they were almost home.

On July 12th, Americans
declare victory

in the battle for Saipan.

General Holland Smith leads
the raising of the flag.

But more somber ceremonies
take place all over the island.

Americans suffer
almost 3,500 dead

and more than 10,000 wounded.

This is a full 20% of
the invasion force,

about the same percentage
as the battle of Tarawa

the previous fall.

Admiral Nimitz realizes
that island hopping

isn’t getting any easier.

The enemy met the assault

with pointless bravery,
inhuman tenacity

and the will to lose hard.

Japan loses the island,
but learns a lesson.

The way to prolong
the American advance

is to inflict lasting pain.

They are beginning to
redefine the Pacific War.

The United States isn’t happy
with how this battle unfolded.

The services continue
to blame each other

for Saipan’s errors.

They have little time to regroup.

The battle for two more
islands in the Marianas

Is about to begin
- Tinian and Guam.

If successful, they
will have airfields

within bombing range of Tokyo,

if the B-29 is ready.

The Japanese empire
is beginning to crack.

But after their brave
defense of Saipan,

no one expects it to shatter.