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In late 1944,
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00:00:02,402 --> 00:00:06,873
the Pacific War is
building to a brutal climax.
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00:00:06,907 --> 00:00:10,244
One island swallows an
entire Marine regiment.
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00:00:10,277 --> 00:00:14,348
We were in
a death trap on Peleliu.
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00:00:14,381 --> 00:00:16,950
Another becomes a
beacon of bravery.
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00:00:16,984 --> 00:00:21,121
Iwo Jima
was 36 days of pure hell.
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00:00:21,154 --> 00:00:24,591
Japan fights with ferocity.
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00:00:24,625 --> 00:00:27,128
America fights with fire --
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00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,729
igniting the war’s deadliest day.
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00:00:29,763 --> 00:00:31,098
It was as though Tokyo
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00:00:31,131 --> 00:00:33,900
had dropped through
the floor of the world.
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00:00:33,934 --> 00:00:35,869
With rare home movies ...
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00:00:35,903 --> 00:00:38,038
and front line stories ...
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00:00:38,071 --> 00:00:41,308
hear the voices...
and feel the fight.
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00:00:41,341 --> 00:00:44,945
My heart pounded as
we churned toward that inferno.
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00:01:01,995 --> 00:01:03,763
I became part
of a proud, high-spirited,
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00:01:03,797 --> 00:01:07,134
elite outfit.
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00:01:07,167 --> 00:01:08,969
Twenty-year-old Eugene Sledge
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00:01:09,002 --> 00:01:11,137
is just joining the 1st Marines
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00:01:11,171 --> 00:01:15,142
as they train in
the Pacific in 1944.
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00:01:17,411 --> 00:01:19,079
The division was
gutted in battles
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00:01:19,112 --> 00:01:23,550
for Guadalcanal
and Cape Gloucester.
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00:01:23,584 --> 00:01:27,188
They are full of
replacements like Sledge.
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00:01:27,220 --> 00:01:30,857
Eighty-five
percent are not yet 21.
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00:01:33,327 --> 00:01:35,162
The veterans
taught the replacements
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00:01:35,195 --> 00:01:40,667
all the ins and outs of
combat with a ruthless foe.
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00:01:40,701 --> 00:01:43,137
They’re on a
tropical South Pacific island
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00:01:43,170 --> 00:01:49,443
called Pavuvu. It
sounds like paradise.
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The 1st Marines
think it’s a hellhole.
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00:01:55,015 --> 00:01:57,518
We led a Spartan existence.
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00:01:57,551 --> 00:02:03,290
Warmed-over C-rations and
stale coffee passed for chow.
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00:02:03,323 --> 00:02:08,295
Space is so tight
they have to march in circles.
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00:02:08,328 --> 00:02:13,200
Every drill is a
battle with bugs.
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00:02:13,233 --> 00:02:17,471
Some joke that they’ll
welcome a return to combat.
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00:02:20,507 --> 00:02:25,779
Until they’re loading
up for their next battle.
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00:02:25,812 --> 00:02:29,683
We, not being fools,
were all scared to death.
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00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:33,053
The veterans, because
they knew what to expect.
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00:02:33,086 --> 00:02:36,423
The new men, because we didn’t.
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00:02:51,104 --> 00:02:53,740
I hung weakly to
the side of the tractor
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00:02:53,774 --> 00:02:57,745
and prayed that I
would do my duty, survive,
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00:02:57,778 --> 00:03:03,183
and not wet my pants.
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00:03:03,216 --> 00:03:08,822
Sledge inches
closer to his first combat.
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00:03:08,855 --> 00:03:13,326
The scene before
him is pure hell.
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00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,263
The beach was a sheet of flame
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00:03:16,296 --> 00:03:19,666
backed by a huge
wall of black smoke,
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00:03:19,700 --> 00:03:23,404
as though the
island was on fire.
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00:03:28,241 --> 00:03:29,843
The beach
is already smoldering
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00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:33,046
with twisted metal and blood.
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00:03:35,449 --> 00:03:42,222
My heart pounded as
we churned toward that inferno.
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00:03:42,255 --> 00:03:49,729
We got to the beach
amid erupting shell bursts
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00:03:49,763 --> 00:03:51,932
and the rattle of
enemy machine gun bullets
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00:03:51,965 --> 00:03:54,801
against the steel Amtrac.
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00:03:58,004 --> 00:03:59,839
Within an
hour, casualties number
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00:03:59,873 --> 00:04:02,676
in the hundreds...
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00:04:02,709 --> 00:04:07,013
... while the advance
is measured in yards.
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00:04:07,047 --> 00:04:10,617
The 1st Marines are
taking it on the chin.
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00:04:14,788 --> 00:04:17,391
Americans want
Peleliu in case it interferes
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00:04:17,424 --> 00:04:21,929
with a bigger invasion on
the way -- the Philippines.
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00:04:26,199 --> 00:04:28,068
Japanese film
shows them overrunning
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the American territory
in 1941, taking control
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00:04:32,639 --> 00:04:39,679
of 16 million Filipinos
and 7,000 American POWs.
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00:04:39,713 --> 00:04:42,583
Ever since, Army
General Douglas MacArthur
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has been itching
to take it back.
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00:04:45,752 --> 00:04:48,855
At every opportunity,
he repeats his mantra:
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00:04:48,889 --> 00:04:51,558
"I shall return."
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00:04:51,591 --> 00:04:57,831
He makes the promise;
America makes the plan.
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00:04:57,864 --> 00:04:59,132
It includes sending Marines
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00:04:59,166 --> 00:05:01,602
to take the small
airfield at Peleliu,
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00:05:01,635 --> 00:05:07,774
which could be a nuisance to the
Army’s Philippines offensive.
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00:05:07,808 --> 00:05:10,177
This isn’t lost on the troops,
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00:05:10,210 --> 00:05:13,880
who dub themselves
"MacArthur’s Marines."
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00:05:16,683 --> 00:05:18,818
We were ordered
to capture the airfield,
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00:05:18,852 --> 00:05:24,291
and we started across at
a trot in the searing heat.
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00:05:24,324 --> 00:05:29,362
The ground rocked and
swayed from shell concussions.
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00:05:29,396 --> 00:05:36,336
And streams of machine-gun
tracers streaked past our ears.
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00:05:36,369 --> 00:05:39,739
Within hours,
the wounded start piling up.
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00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,515
The Japanese are
lobbing their repelling fire
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00:05:48,548 --> 00:05:51,484
from this craggy
jumble of peaks.
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00:05:51,518 --> 00:05:55,956
The 1st Marines nickname
it "Bloody Nose Ridge."
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00:05:59,159 --> 00:06:01,194
One of the officers
approaching the ridge
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00:06:01,228 --> 00:06:04,164
is New Yorker George Haggerty.
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00:06:10,070 --> 00:06:11,138
When my company went in
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00:06:11,171 --> 00:06:17,377
we were 250 strong
with six officers.
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00:06:17,410 --> 00:06:19,045
A few days later I
found my commander,
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00:06:19,079 --> 00:06:23,517
and he said, "You and I
are the only officers left.
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00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:26,620
And we only have about 20 men."
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00:06:26,653 --> 00:06:28,588
Down to a skeleton unit,
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00:06:28,622 --> 00:06:31,291
the commander sends
Haggerty and six others
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00:06:31,324 --> 00:06:33,593
to find a hidden
Japanese emplacement
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00:06:33,627 --> 00:06:36,797
that already
bloodied much of the company.
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00:06:41,801 --> 00:06:42,969
He said, "When you get there,
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00:06:43,003 --> 00:06:45,072
signal to me and we’ll come up."
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00:06:51,111 --> 00:06:55,048
We crawled our way up the field.
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00:06:58,818 --> 00:07:04,524
Some of the grenades we threw
up, they threw back down at us.
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00:07:08,828 --> 00:07:10,063
Haggerty gets close enough
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00:07:10,096 --> 00:07:14,567
to signal his
commander for reinforcements.
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00:07:14,601 --> 00:07:17,471
We signaled and
signaled, and nothing happened.
105
00:07:20,173 --> 00:07:22,308
Instead, our own
armored LVTs came up
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00:07:22,342 --> 00:07:24,945
and starting firing at us.
108
00:07:27,814 --> 00:07:32,952
They thought we were Japanese.
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00:07:32,986 --> 00:07:35,355
Haggerty stumbles
back with shrapnel wounds
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00:07:35,388 --> 00:07:38,458
from enemy and friendly fire.
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00:07:47,334 --> 00:07:48,969
I went back to look
for my commander
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00:07:49,002 --> 00:07:53,006
and ask him why he hadn’t
brought the reinforcements.
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00:07:53,039 --> 00:07:56,643
I found him with a
little hole between his eyes
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00:07:56,676 --> 00:08:00,313
and the whole back
of his head blown off.
117
00:08:00,347 --> 00:08:04,251
That was the end of
the war for my battalion.
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00:08:04,284 --> 00:08:07,788
We didn’t have
any more troops left.
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00:08:13,026 --> 00:08:19,699
From the air,
Peleliu looks like the moon.
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00:08:19,733 --> 00:08:22,703
Underneath, there’s an
old network of mining tunnels
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00:08:22,736 --> 00:08:26,907
that the Japanese transform
into a front unto itself.
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00:08:28,241 --> 00:08:32,112
There never
was a front line on Peleliu.
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00:08:32,145 --> 00:08:36,149
The whole island
was a front line.
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00:08:36,182 --> 00:08:37,817
Japanese are everywhere,
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00:08:37,851 --> 00:08:40,921
but nowhere to be seen.
126
00:08:40,954 --> 00:08:47,694
Americans end up shooting
blindly into the ground.
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00:08:47,727 --> 00:08:50,830
They think they win a hill,
only to smell Japanese cooking
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00:08:50,864 --> 00:08:54,267
wafting up from below ground.
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00:08:57,771 --> 00:09:00,474
The subterranean maze
is so confounding that
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00:09:00,507 --> 00:09:05,178
the Americans resort to blasting
shut any hole they see ...
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00:09:05,211 --> 00:09:09,482
whether they think
anyone’s inside or not.
132
00:09:12,552 --> 00:09:16,356
It takes two bloody
weeks to secure the airfield,
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00:09:16,389 --> 00:09:21,327
and they’re uncertain
it was ever a real threat.
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00:09:21,361 --> 00:09:23,330
The 1st Marines’
overall strength
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00:09:23,363 --> 00:09:27,167
is down by nearly 60 percent.
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00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:31,104
MacArthur’s
Marines are fading fast.
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00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:35,876
With Bloody Nose
Ridge surrounded
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00:09:35,909 --> 00:09:37,878
and the main airfield secure,
139
00:09:37,911 --> 00:09:40,113
Americans turn to
the smaller airfield
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00:09:40,146 --> 00:09:43,282
on the islet of Ngesebus.
141
00:09:46,086 --> 00:09:48,388
They don’t know what
lies across the shallow reef
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00:09:48,421 --> 00:09:55,061
dividing the islands.
So they don’t tiptoe.
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00:09:55,095 --> 00:09:57,998
They bring all the
might they can muster.
145
00:10:11,611 --> 00:10:14,848
A textbook landing
goes off without a problem.
146
00:10:14,881 --> 00:10:19,285
But -- there’s no payoff.
147
00:10:19,319 --> 00:10:21,788
The airfield is useless --
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00:10:21,821 --> 00:10:27,360
with unfinished
runways made of soft sand.
149
00:10:27,393 --> 00:10:32,465
The battle for the rest
of Peleliu will drag on.
150
00:10:32,499 --> 00:10:34,968
But with both airfields secure,
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the invasion of the
Philippines is about to begin.
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00:10:49,415 --> 00:10:52,351
Pre-dawn bombardment
illuminates MacArthur
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00:10:52,385 --> 00:10:55,755
on the day he’s
been waiting for.
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00:11:01,361 --> 00:11:05,732
The choreography of an
invasion is now well-rehearsed.
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00:11:05,765 --> 00:11:09,869
But each man knows the
Philippines are different.
158
00:11:09,903 --> 00:11:12,005
The size of the islands.
159
00:11:12,038 --> 00:11:14,707
Sixteen million civilians.
160
00:11:14,741 --> 00:11:19,012
Thousands of Allied prisoners.
161
00:11:19,045 --> 00:11:21,514
And the half-million
Japanese defenders
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waiting somewhere
behind the veil of smoke
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00:11:24,384 --> 00:11:28,455
now rising from the coast.
164
00:11:28,488 --> 00:11:31,858
Americans land first on
Leyte, hoping to win it
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00:11:31,891 --> 00:11:37,630
before invading Luzon
and the capital of Manila.
166
00:11:37,664 --> 00:11:41,434
Unlike Peleliu, the
beach is not heavily defended.
167
00:11:41,467 --> 00:11:45,604
By afternoon,
MacArthur wades ashore.
168
00:11:45,638 --> 00:11:47,473
As the news cameras roll,
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00:11:47,507 --> 00:11:53,079
he swaggers onto the
sand without a helmet.
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00:11:53,112 --> 00:11:55,114
There may be no
combat on the beach,
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00:11:55,148 --> 00:12:00,086
but there is some dark comedy.
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00:12:00,119 --> 00:12:05,057
The scale of the invasion
strains the supply chain.
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00:12:05,091 --> 00:12:11,064
On the first day,
107,000 tons come ashore.
174
00:12:11,097 --> 00:12:14,767
But not in the right order.
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00:12:14,801 --> 00:12:16,736
In the rush to
unload, urgent supplies
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are buried under
less important ones.
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00:12:20,573 --> 00:12:24,544
And ... it’s the rainy season.
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00:12:24,577 --> 00:12:27,213
Captain John
Hanna takes home movies
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of the muck his
unit has to navigate.
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00:12:31,818 --> 00:12:39,626
It’s thick.
Slick. And inescapable.
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00:12:39,659 --> 00:12:45,131
Though the water
buffalo don’t seem to mind.
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00:12:45,164 --> 00:12:50,302
Back on his ship, Hanna films
locals approaching in canoes.
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00:12:50,336 --> 00:12:52,271
They’re looking for
safe harbor in the shadows
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00:12:52,305 --> 00:12:57,377
of American ships that
now blanket Leyte Gulf.
185
00:12:57,410 --> 00:13:04,217
But so many ships in one place
make an irresistible target.
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00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:05,651
American carriers provide
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00:13:05,685 --> 00:13:09,923
the only air
support for the invasion.
188
00:13:09,956 --> 00:13:12,325
If Japan can
disable this lifeline,
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00:13:12,358 --> 00:13:16,195
they could isolate
the Americans on land.
190
00:13:18,331 --> 00:13:22,035
The Imperial Japanese
Navy decides to attack.
192
00:13:25,171 --> 00:13:28,341
American ships buzz to life.
193
00:13:31,010 --> 00:13:33,446
The Battle of Leyte Gulf
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will decide the
future of the Philippines.
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00:13:44,524 --> 00:13:49,462
Naval battles often boil
down to pilot versus pilot.
196
00:13:57,036 --> 00:14:02,341
In the air, Americans
continue to dominate.
198
00:14:09,515 --> 00:14:12,985
As Japanese fighters
fall away, an American
199
00:14:13,019 --> 00:14:19,492
gets a clear shot at an
enemy ship. He doesn’t miss.
200
00:14:22,395 --> 00:14:27,100
Out of desperation,
Japan changes tactics.
201
00:14:29,202 --> 00:14:33,907
Their planes dive
closer to American ships.
202
00:14:36,909 --> 00:14:40,045
Hidden in the smoke, this
one punches through staccato
203
00:14:40,079 --> 00:14:46,719
anti-aircraft fire, flying
lower than anyone expects.
204
00:14:49,922 --> 00:14:54,093
Navy man Charles Ripper is
shocked at what he sees next.
205
00:14:55,261 --> 00:14:57,563
Coming towards
us was a Japanese plane,
206
00:14:57,597 --> 00:15:02,302
just skimming over the
water. We jumped for cover.
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00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:07,673
It lands a suicidal blow.
210
00:15:16,382 --> 00:15:19,252
These are the first
organized kamikaze attacks
211
00:15:19,285 --> 00:15:27,093
of the Pacific War.
They will not be the last.
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00:15:27,126 --> 00:15:31,097
Over four days,
America loses six warships,
213
00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:35,101
but Japan loses 26.
214
00:15:35,134 --> 00:15:40,172
The seas around the Philippines
are now American waters.
215
00:15:40,206 --> 00:15:44,944
The ground war will be
bloody, and Manila awaits.
216
00:15:44,977 --> 00:15:49,281
But only one side will
have air and sea support.
217
00:15:49,315 --> 00:15:53,753
The other will slowly choke.
218
00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:56,689
Back on Peleliu, the 1st Marines
219
00:15:56,722 --> 00:16:01,260
have to finish
what they started.
220
00:16:01,294 --> 00:16:04,130
They fire grenades with rifles.
221
00:16:06,432 --> 00:16:09,335
They throw Molotov cocktails.
222
00:16:11,971 --> 00:16:13,673
And they deploy a new weapon
223
00:16:13,706 --> 00:16:17,677
called the Navy
Mark One Flamethrower.
224
00:16:19,645 --> 00:16:25,451
It shoots a blazing laser
of napalm up to 150 yards.
225
00:16:28,688 --> 00:16:32,692
We were limited by not
being able to use poison gas.
226
00:16:32,725 --> 00:16:36,862
Other than that,
just about anything went.
227
00:16:40,166 --> 00:16:43,870
Americans also
drop napalm from the air.
228
00:16:43,903 --> 00:16:50,209
It’s a new tactic getting its
first big tryout on Peleliu.
229
00:16:50,243 --> 00:16:53,513
They hope to scorch
Japanese they can’t see.
230
00:16:55,381 --> 00:16:59,151
They provide powerful fireworks,
231
00:16:59,185 --> 00:17:03,389
but they have little effect
on deep Japanese positions.
232
00:17:07,693 --> 00:17:11,997
Killing the enemy from
a distance isn’t working.
233
00:17:12,031 --> 00:17:15,468
It’s going to take close combat.
234
00:17:15,501 --> 00:17:17,703
As a private first class,
235
00:17:17,737 --> 00:17:21,507
your war lies
within 15 feet of you.
236
00:17:21,541 --> 00:17:23,910
It’s kinda like Gettysburg.
237
00:17:23,943 --> 00:17:26,179
Fred Fox is an Army infantryman
238
00:17:26,212 --> 00:17:29,182
attached to the 1st Marines.
239
00:17:29,215 --> 00:17:31,884
His entire World
War II combat career
240
00:17:31,918 --> 00:17:36,556
is 48 hours on
Peleliu -- at age 18.
241
00:17:36,589 --> 00:17:39,358
I was only in one battle.
242
00:17:39,392 --> 00:17:42,862
But the two days that
I fought at Peleliu...
243
00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:47,433
marked my life more
than anything else.
244
00:17:47,466 --> 00:17:49,301
Here, a medical evacuation
245
00:17:49,335 --> 00:17:52,872
gets burned into memory.
247
00:17:58,277 --> 00:18:00,546
Three lie wounded.
248
00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:06,519
Enemy fire pins down two
corpsmen just yards away.
249
00:18:06,552 --> 00:18:10,623
Five lives hang in the balance.
250
00:18:12,325 --> 00:18:16,596
A thousandth of a
second, a hundredth of an inch,
251
00:18:16,629 --> 00:18:17,597
and that’s the difference
252
00:18:17,630 --> 00:18:21,868
between whether
I was dead or not.
253
00:18:21,901 --> 00:18:26,305
The corpsmen struggle
to carry the stretcher case.
254
00:18:26,339 --> 00:18:29,242
The other two combine whatever
strength they have left
255
00:18:29,275 --> 00:18:32,111
to get themselves out.
256
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,416
The scene is
repeated over and over,
257
00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:42,422
as the war plays out on
the tiny stage of Peleliu.
258
00:18:42,455 --> 00:18:43,690
You’re talking about an island
259
00:18:43,723 --> 00:18:46,426
that’s about two miles wide,
260
00:18:46,459 --> 00:18:49,195
and you get
maybe 11,000 Japanese
261
00:18:49,228 --> 00:18:54,433
and 28,000
Americans mad at each other?
262
00:18:54,467 --> 00:18:55,935
The 1st Marines are trapped
263
00:18:55,968 --> 00:18:57,837
on this cage of an island
264
00:18:57,870 --> 00:19:01,540
that seems determined
to swallow them all.
265
00:19:01,574 --> 00:19:02,809
Some mention a premonition
266
00:19:02,842 --> 00:19:05,111
of when they’re gonna die.
267
00:19:05,144 --> 00:19:07,313
One sergeant in
the tent with me,
268
00:19:07,346 --> 00:19:10,316
been through
Guadalcanal and New Britain.
269
00:19:10,349 --> 00:19:14,220
On Peleliu he said, "I
don’t want to go out there.
270
00:19:14,253 --> 00:19:17,423
I’m not gonna make this."
271
00:19:20,292 --> 00:19:23,128
And he didn’t.
272
00:19:25,031 --> 00:19:29,235
He didn’t make it two minutes.
273
00:19:35,074 --> 00:19:36,609
In their third year of war,
274
00:19:36,642 --> 00:19:38,811
and sixth week on Peleliu,
275
00:19:38,844 --> 00:19:43,515
the 1st Marines are in no
mood to play by the rules.
276
00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:44,884
We never took prisoners,
277
00:19:44,917 --> 00:19:48,053
even when some tried to give up.
278
00:19:49,422 --> 00:19:51,925
We routinely shot both dead
279
00:19:51,957 --> 00:19:56,862
and wounded in the head,
to make sure they were dead.
281
00:20:00,399 --> 00:20:03,769
By the end of
October, it’s still not over.
282
00:20:03,803 --> 00:20:07,173
But it is for the 1st Marines.
283
00:20:07,206 --> 00:20:12,011
Almost a third of their
men are dead or wounded.
284
00:20:12,044 --> 00:20:13,879
MacArthur’s Marines load up
285
00:20:13,913 --> 00:20:17,717
and leave Peleliu
for the Army to finish.
286
00:20:17,750 --> 00:20:20,720
It will take another month.
287
00:20:23,489 --> 00:20:26,225
Peleliu becomes one of
the enduring question marks
288
00:20:26,258 --> 00:20:29,762
of the Pacific War.
289
00:20:29,795 --> 00:20:32,464
Eighteen hundred dead.
290
00:20:32,498 --> 00:20:35,301
Eight thousand wounded.
291
00:20:35,334 --> 00:20:37,236
All for some dusty airfields
292
00:20:37,269 --> 00:20:40,639
that may not have
been a threat after all.
293
00:20:42,208 --> 00:20:46,279
All too many young
Americans were sent to Peleliu,
294
00:20:46,312 --> 00:20:53,486
and into oblivion. Before
they had ever really lived.
295
00:20:53,519 --> 00:20:55,187
In the march toward Japan,
296
00:20:55,221 --> 00:20:59,859
America seems lost in
the Southwest Pacific.
297
00:21:01,026 --> 00:21:04,263
In the Central Pacific,
the path is more clear --
298
00:21:04,296 --> 00:21:05,998
island-hop toward Japan
299
00:21:06,031 --> 00:21:09,468
with daring and
distant amphibious assaults.
300
00:21:09,502 --> 00:21:15,508
Americans have advanced as
far as the Mariana Islands.
301
00:21:15,541 --> 00:21:19,979
Saipan, Guam and Tinian
are all recently captured,
302
00:21:20,012 --> 00:21:23,415
and at the mercy of
American machinery.
303
00:21:23,449 --> 00:21:28,120
They are paving the way
for a brand new aircraft --
304
00:21:28,154 --> 00:21:31,391
the B-29 Superfortress.
305
00:21:31,423 --> 00:21:34,192
But from the
factory to the flight line,
306
00:21:34,226 --> 00:21:40,566
it’s plagued with problems.
Deliveries are delayed.
307
00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:43,235
In Kansas,
Raymond Halloran’s crew
308
00:21:43,269 --> 00:21:46,205
has been training on
other aircraft instead.
309
00:21:47,373 --> 00:21:51,344
We had 11
people in our B-29 crew.
310
00:21:51,377 --> 00:21:55,014
They were from 11
different states.
311
00:21:55,047 --> 00:21:58,050
It was sort of Americana.
312
00:21:58,083 --> 00:22:04,189
The gunner was from Michigan,
radarman from Oklahoma.
313
00:22:04,223 --> 00:22:07,560
You wonder where these
kids are all coming from.
314
00:22:10,162 --> 00:22:12,698
One day, we came
out to this ramp,
315
00:22:12,731 --> 00:22:18,070
and out there was a
brand-new, silver B-29.
316
00:22:18,103 --> 00:22:21,406
What a beautiful thing!
317
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,743
That was going to be
ours to take overseas.
318
00:22:24,777 --> 00:22:28,114
We were so excited.
319
00:22:30,182 --> 00:22:32,584
For the first time,
they are flying untethered
320
00:22:32,618 --> 00:22:39,191
from a training script,
unsupervised by superiors.
321
00:22:39,225 --> 00:22:42,962
Halloran is 21 years old.
322
00:22:45,297 --> 00:22:47,966
We were going alone.
323
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,136
It was crystal clear.
324
00:22:51,170 --> 00:22:56,709
We climbed to about
20,000 feet, moving west.
325
00:22:56,742 --> 00:23:01,113
They fly over the
familiar landscape of home,
326
00:23:01,146 --> 00:23:04,983
heading toward a
distant, abstract war,
327
00:23:05,017 --> 00:23:09,221
somewhere in the
direction of the setting sun.
328
00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:15,227
There was very little
said for a while.
329
00:23:17,162 --> 00:23:20,932
Then we got out
over the Pacific.
330
00:23:20,966 --> 00:23:25,938
There wasn’t a sound
in the plane -- nothing.
331
00:23:25,971 --> 00:23:29,107
Nobody said a thing.
332
00:23:29,141 --> 00:23:34,480
I had a definite feeling that
I’m leaving everything behind --
333
00:23:34,513 --> 00:23:40,886
my mother and
father, and my training --
334
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,424
and I am going into combat.
335
00:23:44,456 --> 00:23:50,595
I think on that evening, at
that time, at that altitude,
336
00:23:50,629 --> 00:23:55,534
I converted from
youth to manhood.
337
00:23:55,567 --> 00:23:59,671
I could do the job of a man.
338
00:24:03,909 --> 00:24:05,644
Also on the way to the Marianas
339
00:24:05,678 --> 00:24:08,247
is General Curtis LeMay.
340
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,582
These are his home
movies from the war,
341
00:24:10,616 --> 00:24:14,453
which have never
been broadcast before.
342
00:24:14,486 --> 00:24:16,922
He’s arriving from
India, where his bombing group
343
00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:21,194
had trouble striking
Japan from such a distance.
344
00:24:21,226 --> 00:24:25,163
He hopes the Marianas will
change the B-29 equation --
345
00:24:25,197 --> 00:24:28,634
if he can whip
his men into shape.
346
00:24:28,667 --> 00:24:30,769
We had crews that
weren’t trained,
347
00:24:30,803 --> 00:24:33,372
and we had outfits
that weren’t organized.
348
00:24:33,405 --> 00:24:35,774
Everything was wrong.
349
00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:38,511
As he comes in for a
landing at his new headquarters,
350
00:24:38,544 --> 00:24:43,783
LeMay’s reputation is already
circulating on the ground.
351
00:24:43,816 --> 00:24:46,052
We called him "Old Iron Pants"
352
00:24:46,085 --> 00:24:48,187
because he was a tough cookie.
353
00:24:48,220 --> 00:24:53,559
He was the George
Patton of the Air Force.
354
00:24:53,592 --> 00:24:58,497
In the winter of 1944,
hundreds of brand new B-29s
355
00:24:58,530 --> 00:25:00,599
begin streaming
into the Marianas
356
00:25:00,632 --> 00:25:04,369
like giant migratory birds.
357
00:25:04,403 --> 00:25:07,473
We had just
six weeks to move the B-29s
358
00:25:07,506 --> 00:25:10,509
to bases in the Marianas,
359
00:25:10,542 --> 00:25:12,644
fly a few shakedown flights,
360
00:25:12,678 --> 00:25:16,115
and launch an operation.
361
00:25:16,148 --> 00:25:18,150
American air power
is building up
362
00:25:18,183 --> 00:25:21,720
like a storm cloud
in the Central Pacific.
363
00:25:21,754 --> 00:25:27,260
Japan can only guess when
it will thunder overhead.
364
00:25:30,295 --> 00:25:32,430
Japan is rattled.
365
00:25:32,464 --> 00:25:36,568
Americans are
encroaching dangerously close.
366
00:25:39,104 --> 00:25:41,740
A Japanese film
shows a geography lesson
367
00:25:41,774 --> 00:25:45,211
turning into a dire warning.
368
00:25:45,244 --> 00:25:47,413
The teacher
pinpoints the Marianas
369
00:25:47,446 --> 00:25:54,053
and draws an arc
that includes Tokyo.
370
00:25:54,086 --> 00:25:58,657
Air raid drills
signal a tense new reality.
371
00:26:02,428 --> 00:26:03,863
In public, one admiral
372
00:26:03,896 --> 00:26:07,933
describes the defeat
in measured language.
373
00:26:10,436 --> 00:26:13,673
Our garrison
on Saipan fought bravely.
374
00:26:13,705 --> 00:26:18,243
All of them died a heroic death.
375
00:26:18,277 --> 00:26:20,946
In private, another
admiral is more blunt,
376
00:26:20,979 --> 00:26:26,685
saying simply:
"Hell is upon us."
377
00:26:26,718 --> 00:26:27,852
Bombs are wheeled up
378
00:26:27,886 --> 00:26:31,523
to a B-29
Superfortress on Saipan Island.
379
00:26:31,557 --> 00:26:33,059
It is only the beginning
380
00:26:33,092 --> 00:26:36,596
as these mighty bombers prepare
for the first raid on Tokyo
381
00:26:36,628 --> 00:26:39,764
in two and a half years.
382
00:26:39,798 --> 00:26:44,102
American newsreels
paint the B-29 as a savior.
383
00:26:44,136 --> 00:26:46,405
But it can barely soar.
385
00:26:48,974 --> 00:26:52,978
They labor to take off
with 10,000 pounds of bombs.
386
00:26:53,011 --> 00:26:56,381
This one almost
runs off the runway.
387
00:26:58,016 --> 00:27:00,785
When they picked up that B-29,
388
00:27:00,819 --> 00:27:03,822
you could almost
see it screaming.
389
00:27:07,493 --> 00:27:13,399
In January of 1945,
B-29s begin raids on Japan.
390
00:27:13,432 --> 00:27:16,068
The entire rationale
for island hopping
391
00:27:16,101 --> 00:27:19,805
will now be put to the test.
392
00:27:19,838 --> 00:27:22,908
En route, crews
review their targets ...
393
00:27:22,941 --> 00:27:26,011
what little they
know about them.
394
00:27:26,044 --> 00:27:30,448
We didn’t really
know anything about Japan.
395
00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:32,150
We didn’t have any secret agents
396
00:27:32,184 --> 00:27:36,822
creeping around
sending us information.
397
00:27:36,855 --> 00:27:41,793
But an even bigger
problem looms at 25,000 feet --
398
00:27:41,827 --> 00:27:43,996
a roaring tailwind.
399
00:27:44,029 --> 00:27:46,164
We were
scooting across Tokyo
400
00:27:46,198 --> 00:27:50,235
at 500 miles an hour.
401
00:27:50,269 --> 00:27:52,705
Bombs drop
into this lashing wind --
402
00:27:52,738 --> 00:27:55,808
and scatter like feathers.
403
00:27:55,841 --> 00:27:57,710
We not only missed the target --
404
00:27:57,743 --> 00:28:01,013
I’m not even sure we hit Tokyo.
405
00:28:03,182 --> 00:28:08,187
Americans try flying
the missions into the wind.
406
00:28:08,220 --> 00:28:09,988
One plane tried that one day
407
00:28:10,022 --> 00:28:11,156
and they found
out they were going
408
00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:14,393
three miles an hour backwards.
409
00:28:15,928 --> 00:28:17,730
The B-29 was built to bomb
410
00:28:17,763 --> 00:28:21,367
from the safety
of high altitude.
411
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,035
No one imagined its payload
412
00:28:23,068 --> 00:28:26,705
splashing
harmlessly into the sea.
413
00:28:26,738 --> 00:28:28,873
Heading back to Saipan,
414
00:28:28,907 --> 00:28:33,912
the first Superfortress mission
over Tokyo is a success.
415
00:28:33,946 --> 00:28:38,250
Curt LeMay
knows it really isn’t.
416
00:28:38,283 --> 00:28:40,252
The B-29 still isn’t landing
417
00:28:40,285 --> 00:28:44,389
the knockout
punch it was made for.
418
00:28:44,423 --> 00:28:50,429
In Guam, this one doesn’t
even make it off the runway.
419
00:28:50,462 --> 00:28:53,265
General LeMay films
the wreckage himself,
420
00:28:53,298 --> 00:28:57,402
and he can feel the
heat -- in every way.
421
00:28:57,436 --> 00:29:02,074
They said if you don’t
get results, you’ll be fired.
422
00:29:02,107 --> 00:29:03,809
If you don’t get results,
423
00:29:03,842 --> 00:29:08,313
it’ll mean a mass
amphibious invasion of Japan.
424
00:29:08,347 --> 00:29:10,149
One way to improve results
425
00:29:10,182 --> 00:29:15,054
is to keep more B-29s
from crashing along the way.
426
00:29:15,087 --> 00:29:18,691
Americans look for a
place to land a broken B-29
427
00:29:18,724 --> 00:29:21,860
between the Marianas and Japan.
428
00:29:21,893 --> 00:29:26,331
There’s only one
choice. Iwo Jima.
429
00:29:33,805 --> 00:29:36,741
Raymond Halloran’s
crew, fresh from Kansas,
430
00:29:36,775 --> 00:29:39,645
gets its very
first combat orders.
431
00:29:45,951 --> 00:29:48,387
The mission was
to go to Iwo Jima,
432
00:29:48,420 --> 00:29:52,958
650 miles away,
to bomb the runway.
433
00:29:52,991 --> 00:29:54,826
By now, the Army Air Force
434
00:29:54,860 --> 00:30:00,432
is trying to prove the value
of the B-29 any way it can.
435
00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:01,933
The Air Force wanted to come in
436
00:30:01,967 --> 00:30:04,770
and saturate every
square inch of Iwo Jima,
437
00:30:04,803 --> 00:30:06,838
because there were no civilians.
438
00:30:06,872 --> 00:30:09,475
Then all we’d have to
do is walk on the beach,
439
00:30:09,508 --> 00:30:13,612
put up the flag,
and bury dead Japanese.
440
00:30:13,645 --> 00:30:16,548
From above,
the island looks lifeless.
441
00:30:16,581 --> 00:30:19,818
Halloran quickly
finds out otherwise.
442
00:30:22,154 --> 00:30:25,858
They opened up with
anti-aircraft fire.
443
00:30:25,891 --> 00:30:27,793
Japanese footage reveals guns
444
00:30:27,826 --> 00:30:31,330
aiming straight up at
the incoming bombers.
445
00:30:34,099 --> 00:30:35,167
I didn’t know they were
446
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,869
going to be shooting at us.
447
00:30:37,903 --> 00:30:41,774
We had a few little holes in
our plane when we came back.
448
00:30:41,807 --> 00:30:48,781
How proud we were of that.
It proved we were in combat.
449
00:30:48,814 --> 00:30:49,882
Halloran’s crew
450
00:30:49,915 --> 00:30:52,718
gets a little
nicked up over Iwo Jima.
451
00:30:52,751 --> 00:30:56,922
Americans hope the ground
invasion is just as harmless.
452
00:31:04,463 --> 00:31:06,532
For centuries, Mount Suribachi
453
00:31:06,565 --> 00:31:11,737
crowned a barren
island of little value.
454
00:31:11,770 --> 00:31:17,209
But in 1945, two
armies want it badly.
455
00:31:17,242 --> 00:31:23,215
Japan is using it to
attack B-29s passing overhead.
456
00:31:23,248 --> 00:31:28,420
America sees it as an
emergency landing strip.
457
00:31:28,453 --> 00:31:31,623
They will both now use
it as a slaughterhouse.
459
00:31:35,293 --> 00:31:38,263
I went topside just
about the time we were leaving,
460
00:31:38,296 --> 00:31:40,231
and I saw that rock.
461
00:31:40,265 --> 00:31:42,901
It was the most desolate
looking piece of real estate
462
00:31:42,934 --> 00:31:46,971
I ever saw in my life.
463
00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:52,343
As landing craft
circle waiting for the signal,
464
00:31:52,377 --> 00:31:56,448
Americans fear the enemy
will fight back with fire --
465
00:31:56,481 --> 00:32:00,452
and explode barrel
bombs of fuel on the beach.
466
00:32:00,485 --> 00:32:03,688
Marines smear their faces
with white anti-flash cream
467
00:32:03,722 --> 00:32:06,191
to guard against burns.
469
00:32:10,028 --> 00:32:16,601
At 9:02 a.m., the
first wave hits the sand.
470
00:32:16,635 --> 00:32:20,305
Everybody out.
Move, move, move.
471
00:32:20,338 --> 00:32:24,175
The beach is steep and loose.
472
00:32:24,209 --> 00:32:28,480
They struggle in
the fine volcanic ash.
473
00:32:28,513 --> 00:32:31,249
But resistance is light.
474
00:32:31,283 --> 00:32:35,687
There are no
barrel bombs of fuel.
475
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,855
But as more waves come ashore,
476
00:32:37,889 --> 00:32:41,626
more men and machines
get stuck in the sand.
477
00:32:43,195 --> 00:32:45,831
You were walking in
mush almost up to your knees.
478
00:32:45,864 --> 00:32:48,700
It was a struggle.
479
00:32:48,733 --> 00:32:53,071
Soon, the crowd on the
beach reaches critical mass.
480
00:32:53,104 --> 00:32:56,040
That’s when the
Japanese open up.
482
00:33:05,784 --> 00:33:07,753
I could
look up from my foxhole
483
00:33:07,786 --> 00:33:14,760
and it was just 20, 30
mortars in the air at a time.
484
00:33:14,793 --> 00:33:16,795
By 9:20 a.m.,
485
00:33:16,828 --> 00:33:21,666
it’s an unceasing,
ear-splitting barrage.
486
00:33:24,736 --> 00:33:27,839
No Japanese are
on the beach itself.
487
00:33:27,873 --> 00:33:31,643
Most are entrenched
on Mount Suribachi.
488
00:33:31,676 --> 00:33:36,014
Inside the mountain is a maze of
tunnels and monster pillboxes
489
00:33:36,047 --> 00:33:39,183
with walls up to
four feet thick.
490
00:33:39,217 --> 00:33:43,655
The Japanese can pummel
the entire beach with lead.
491
00:33:43,688 --> 00:33:47,425
Marines are trapped within
yards of where they landed.
492
00:33:47,459 --> 00:33:50,762
There’s no place
to go except down.
493
00:33:50,795 --> 00:33:52,597
We decided
we’d clean out a shell hole
494
00:33:52,631 --> 00:33:55,267
and make it a little
deeper for a shelter.
495
00:33:55,300 --> 00:33:58,403
And we hit something down there.
496
00:33:58,436 --> 00:34:03,841
When we uncovered
it, it was a Marine.
497
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:05,844
Bodies are buried ...
498
00:34:05,877 --> 00:34:07,379
trapped ...
499
00:34:07,412 --> 00:34:09,814
and torn apart.
500
00:34:09,848 --> 00:34:12,651
Suribachi is
like a hunting stand,
501
00:34:12,684 --> 00:34:16,087
and Americans are easy prey.
502
00:34:17,422 --> 00:34:20,258
The barrage
continues into the night.
503
00:34:21,927 --> 00:34:24,029
Here, the Japanese score a hit
504
00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:27,566
on an American
ammo dump on the beach.
506
00:34:32,337 --> 00:34:34,539
It was bullets
and all kinds of ammunition
507
00:34:34,573 --> 00:34:36,475
exploding all around.
508
00:34:36,508 --> 00:34:39,144
It was like Chinese fireworks.
509
00:34:39,177 --> 00:34:41,246
The first
day on Iwo Jima ends
510
00:34:41,279 --> 00:34:45,984
with the beach on fire and
supplies going up in smoke.
511
00:34:46,017 --> 00:34:49,454
Americans resolve to
turn the tide the next day --
512
00:34:49,487 --> 00:34:53,024
by scaling Suribachi.
513
00:34:59,664 --> 00:35:01,799
The assault
on Mount Suribachi begins
514
00:35:01,833 --> 00:35:05,503
by punching it
from the air and sea.
515
00:35:08,940 --> 00:35:14,012
Americans make the dormant
volcano seem alive again.
516
00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:24,389
Then, Marines start to climb up.
517
00:35:24,422 --> 00:35:27,825
Soon, blood starts to flow down.
519
00:35:32,998 --> 00:35:37,970
One unit supported by
tanks pushes up for six hours,
520
00:35:38,003 --> 00:35:46,144
advances only 200 yards, and
tallies 162 dead and wounded.
521
00:35:46,177 --> 00:35:50,214
As usual, Americans
rarely see the Japanese.
522
00:35:50,248 --> 00:35:53,318
So they pour
fire into every hole.
524
00:36:11,636 --> 00:36:14,339
After four days of
relentless fighting,
525
00:36:14,372 --> 00:36:17,942
a handful of
Marines get to the top.
526
00:36:17,976 --> 00:36:24,449
They plant a small flag
tied to some old Japanese pipe.
527
00:36:24,482 --> 00:36:29,821
A few hours later, a
larger flag goes up.
528
00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:32,957
Gilberto Mendez can see
it from his troop ship,
529
00:36:32,991 --> 00:36:36,328
and his emotions
go into overdrive.
530
00:36:36,361 --> 00:36:40,165
He’s about to come
ashore to join the fight.
531
00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:43,268
My heart was beating
a thousand times a minute.
532
00:36:43,301 --> 00:36:46,171
My skin was like chicken skin.
533
00:36:46,204 --> 00:36:47,739
I lost my fear.
534
00:36:47,772 --> 00:36:50,875
If those guys made it, I could.
535
00:36:50,909 --> 00:36:52,944
But it was false, that feeling,
536
00:36:52,977 --> 00:36:57,048
because the good
stuff hadn’t started yet.
537
00:37:02,053 --> 00:37:05,490
This is home movie
footage of pre-war Manila.
538
00:37:05,523 --> 00:37:08,393
As the capital of
a U.S. territory,
539
00:37:08,426 --> 00:37:10,995
it’s infused with
American style --
540
00:37:11,029 --> 00:37:13,431
from western clothes ...
541
00:37:13,465 --> 00:37:15,500
to neon glitz.
543
00:37:19,571 --> 00:37:20,772
But when the Allies return
544
00:37:20,805 --> 00:37:23,374
to wrestle it back
from the Japanese,
545
00:37:23,408 --> 00:37:26,244
it’s a different city.
546
00:37:28,747 --> 00:37:33,752
Now ashen and hollow,
it’s the bombed-out backdrop
547
00:37:33,785 --> 00:37:37,689
for the biggest urban
battle of the Pacific War.
548
00:37:37,722 --> 00:37:43,761
[explosions and artillery fire]
549
00:37:43,795 --> 00:37:48,466
MacArthur prohibits air strikes,
trying to spare civilians.
550
00:37:52,137 --> 00:37:57,209
It takes street-by-street
guerrilla warfare.
551
00:38:02,447 --> 00:38:07,519
American tanks roll into the
University of the Philippines.
552
00:38:07,552 --> 00:38:10,021
The campus is under siege.
553
00:38:10,054 --> 00:38:14,692
Here, University
Hall becomes a gun nest.
554
00:38:14,726 --> 00:38:18,463
Japanese rifles
crack from the top floor.
556
00:38:21,032 --> 00:38:27,672
Allies fire back, taking chunks
out of the colonial facade.
557
00:38:34,679 --> 00:38:38,650
The Pacific War is
turning Manila to dust.
558
00:38:42,020 --> 00:38:45,490
Finally, the city goes quiet.
560
00:38:59,204 --> 00:39:02,674
Civilians are in survival mode.
561
00:39:09,948 --> 00:39:13,585
American POWs enjoy
their first taste of freedom
562
00:39:13,618 --> 00:39:17,689
in more than two years.
563
00:39:20,658 --> 00:39:24,328
Kneeling over this body
is serviceman Dan Rocklin.
564
00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:28,566
He films the horrors
that now litter Manila.
565
00:39:36,574 --> 00:39:42,747
But he also captures Filipinos
striving for normalcy.
566
00:39:42,780 --> 00:39:48,719
Rocklin’s film has
never been broadcast before.
567
00:39:48,753 --> 00:39:53,391
His footage reveals
a blossoming hope --
568
00:39:53,424 --> 00:39:58,930
that the storm of war
may finally be passing.
569
00:40:01,165 --> 00:40:04,935
Almost a week into the
battle for Iwo Jima ...
570
00:40:04,969 --> 00:40:09,941
... fresh troops come ashore
to reinforce depleted units.
571
00:40:09,974 --> 00:40:13,277
As replacements,
we were a nobody group.
572
00:40:13,311 --> 00:40:17,782
We went wherever we were
needed. I didn’t know anybody.
573
00:40:17,815 --> 00:40:20,785
But Gilberto
Mendez gets to know Iwo Jima
574
00:40:20,818 --> 00:40:23,087
in a hurry.
575
00:40:23,121 --> 00:40:24,823
The first
days I was on the ground,
576
00:40:24,856 --> 00:40:28,727
I urinated in my
pants because I thought
577
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:33,698
if I dropped my rifle
to pee I would be killed.
578
00:40:33,731 --> 00:40:36,334
The flag already
flying on Mount Suribachi
579
00:40:36,367 --> 00:40:39,337
is the enduring
symbol of Iwo Jima.
580
00:40:39,370 --> 00:40:43,441
But the north is the
where Marines have to win it.
581
00:40:43,474 --> 00:40:44,875
The Japanese have abandoned
582
00:40:44,909 --> 00:40:49,514
Banzai charges and
costly counterattacks.
583
00:40:49,547 --> 00:40:53,551
Now they simply wait to
ambush advancing Americans.
585
00:40:56,421 --> 00:40:59,491
Including Gilberto Mendez.
586
00:41:00,658 --> 00:41:02,593
I saw something shine.
587
00:41:02,627 --> 00:41:05,196
It was a
Japanese officer’s sword,
588
00:41:05,229 --> 00:41:08,833
and he was leading
his men out of a cave.
589
00:41:08,866 --> 00:41:11,202
The bullets were flying.
591
00:41:14,138 --> 00:41:17,775
When I saw below his
neck, I pulled the trigger,
592
00:41:17,809 --> 00:41:20,879
one shot after another.
593
00:41:20,912 --> 00:41:24,182
They found
thirteen holes in his body.
594
00:41:24,215 --> 00:41:28,519
I made hamburger out of him.
595
00:41:28,553 --> 00:41:33,124
More and more bodies
litter the volcanic landscape.
596
00:41:33,157 --> 00:41:37,995
In Japanese, Iwo Jima
means "sulfur island."
597
00:41:38,029 --> 00:41:42,333
The steam smells
like rotten eggs.
598
00:41:42,367 --> 00:41:46,438
Freshly dug foxholes
are too hot to get into.
599
00:41:46,471 --> 00:41:49,607
You couldn’t
stay 15 minutes in one place
600
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,009
because your boots
would get too hot.
601
00:41:52,043 --> 00:41:54,078
One Marine
even tries on the boots
602
00:41:54,112 --> 00:41:56,381
of a dead Japanese soldier,
603
00:41:56,414 --> 00:42:00,351
hoping they might keep
his feet from burning.
604
00:42:00,385 --> 00:42:01,887
Combat is close.
606
00:42:04,255 --> 00:42:07,091
Fiery.
607
00:42:08,526 --> 00:42:11,362
And exhausting.
608
00:42:14,899 --> 00:42:16,734
Two weeks into the battle,
609
00:42:16,768 --> 00:42:21,940
nearly 10,000 American
wounded have been evacuated.
610
00:42:21,973 --> 00:42:25,977
Including Gilberto
Mendez, with a head injury.
611
00:42:29,213 --> 00:42:30,781
An explosion picked me up
612
00:42:30,815 --> 00:42:37,055
and I hit the ground again, with
a terrible ringing in my ear.
613
00:42:37,088 --> 00:42:39,524
I was choking on my own tongue.
614
00:42:39,557 --> 00:42:41,692
A corpsman tried
to pull my tongue out
615
00:42:41,726 --> 00:42:46,931
by piercing it
with a big safety pin.
616
00:42:46,964 --> 00:42:49,767
Under tents
and inside hospital ships,
617
00:42:49,801 --> 00:42:54,372
doctors and nurses tend to
injuries beyond description.
618
00:42:58,276 --> 00:43:01,513
And some beyond repair.
619
00:43:04,148 --> 00:43:09,220
But soon, the reason for all
this carnage comes into view.
621
00:43:12,990 --> 00:43:15,426
Those planes were
coming back shot full of holes,
622
00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:18,697
and tore all to pieces.
623
00:43:18,729 --> 00:43:21,098
On March
4th, the first B-29
624
00:43:21,132 --> 00:43:25,136
comes in for a forced landing.
625
00:43:25,169 --> 00:43:30,007
Hundreds more will sputter into
Iwo Jima from raids in Japan.
626
00:43:30,041 --> 00:43:33,645
This one is so crippled it
can’t even make the runway.
627
00:43:38,816 --> 00:43:42,353
But the crew will be spared.
628
00:43:43,955 --> 00:43:46,424
Even with Iwo
Jima as a life raft,
629
00:43:46,457 --> 00:43:50,962
B-29 raids into
Japan are failing.
630
00:43:50,995 --> 00:43:54,832
The overall game
plan still isn’t working.
631
00:43:54,866 --> 00:43:59,237
So Curtis LeMay
changes the rules.
632
00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,342
We weren’t going
to be able to defeat Japan
633
00:44:05,376 --> 00:44:08,613
using high
altitude precision bombing.
634
00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:12,350
I had to do something radical.
635
00:44:12,383 --> 00:44:14,518
The entire
premise of island hopping
636
00:44:14,552 --> 00:44:17,755
now rests on
Curt LeMay’s command.
637
00:44:17,788 --> 00:44:22,026
So he designs a drastically
different kind of mission.
638
00:44:22,059 --> 00:44:25,763
David Braden
remembers the briefing.
639
00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:28,799
We were going
to fly in at 5,000 feet --
640
00:44:28,833 --> 00:44:32,704
a surprise attack,
probably around midnight.
641
00:44:32,737 --> 00:44:35,473
LeMay thinks going
in low will solve the problem
642
00:44:35,506 --> 00:44:38,809
of high winds
and blinding clouds.
643
00:44:38,843 --> 00:44:42,880
But that’s not the only change.
644
00:44:42,914 --> 00:44:47,986
We were to carry
10 tons of incendiary bombs.
645
00:44:48,019 --> 00:44:50,355
Until now, America’s use of napalm
646
00:44:50,388 --> 00:44:56,861
has been specific to a target
-- a cave, or a jungle hideout.
647
00:44:56,894 --> 00:45:00,131
Now, LeMay has
something bigger in mind.
648
00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:05,169
Tokyo would be our target.
649
00:45:05,203 --> 00:45:07,205
The primary target.
650
00:45:07,238 --> 00:45:09,674
The secondary target.
651
00:45:09,707 --> 00:45:13,344
And the only target.
652
00:45:21,118 --> 00:45:23,854
Three hundred and
twenty-five B-29s
653
00:45:23,888 --> 00:45:27,525
take off in the
afternoon skies --
654
00:45:27,558 --> 00:45:33,230
double the number ever
used in a single raid before.
655
00:45:41,105 --> 00:45:46,811
They fly in groups,
at night, lights off.
656
00:45:46,844 --> 00:45:52,717
Flying in low, the big slow
planes could be easy targets.
657
00:45:52,750 --> 00:45:57,221
Crews fear they’re
on a suicide mission.
658
00:45:57,255 --> 00:45:58,423
We were saying,
659
00:45:58,456 --> 00:46:00,625
"We are going to be
the American kamikazes
660
00:46:00,658 --> 00:46:04,395
and they are going to
shoot us down like crazy."
661
00:46:05,930 --> 00:46:11,035
Then, Tokyo appears below.
662
00:46:13,838 --> 00:46:17,608
The first of more than three
million pounds of firebombs
663
00:46:17,642 --> 00:46:20,745
drop into the night.
664
00:46:24,749 --> 00:46:27,151
A firestorm started.
665
00:46:27,184 --> 00:46:29,219
The updrafts from
the heat of the fires
666
00:46:29,253 --> 00:46:32,690
threw the
airplanes all over the sky.
667
00:46:37,695 --> 00:46:39,163
It was frightening.
668
00:46:39,196 --> 00:46:41,498
There’d be an
aircraft right next to you
669
00:46:41,532 --> 00:46:45,369
and you didn’t even
know the guy was there.
670
00:46:46,404 --> 00:46:49,440
The air is
swirling with ashes,
671
00:46:49,473 --> 00:46:55,079
and crews can smell
burning flesh at 5,000 feet.
672
00:46:56,147 --> 00:46:59,150
The firestorm
consumed so much oxygen
673
00:46:59,183 --> 00:47:05,956
that those who did not die by
the flames simply suffocated.
674
00:47:08,859 --> 00:47:14,264
The next morning, Japan
is in shock.
676
00:47:17,034 --> 00:47:19,103
It was as though
Tokyo had dropped
677
00:47:19,136 --> 00:47:26,377
through the floor of the world
and into the mouth of hell.
678
00:47:27,912 --> 00:47:34,185
Sixteen square miles
of central Tokyo are in ashes.
679
00:47:35,553 --> 00:47:41,392
An estimated 100,000 are
killed -- mostly civilians.
680
00:47:43,994 --> 00:47:48,098
It’s the single deadliest
day of the Pacific War.
681
00:47:48,132 --> 00:47:54,205
Neither atomic bomb will kill
this many on the day it drops.
682
00:47:56,040 --> 00:48:01,746
To LeMay, it’s an
unqualified success.
683
00:48:01,779 --> 00:48:05,216
He draws up plans to
firebomb other cities,
684
00:48:05,249 --> 00:48:07,818
bring Japan to its knees,
685
00:48:07,852 --> 00:48:10,321
and force surrender.
686
00:48:12,356 --> 00:48:14,859
We had stockpiled
enough incendiaries
687
00:48:14,892 --> 00:48:16,560
to follow the Tokyo raid
688
00:48:16,594 --> 00:48:22,033
with just about all the
major urban areas in Japan.
689
00:48:23,300 --> 00:48:27,738
For LeMay, the fire
is only starting.
690
00:48:32,777 --> 00:48:34,545
By late March, Iwo Jima
691
00:48:34,578 --> 00:48:39,583
is finally under
American control.
692
00:48:39,617 --> 00:48:42,920
Supplies drop down that
will help turn this arid rock
693
00:48:42,953 --> 00:48:47,925
into a full-fledged
military base.
695
00:48:49,427 --> 00:48:52,363
Japanese troops will keep
pouring out of this underworld
696
00:48:52,396 --> 00:48:55,833
for months.
697
00:48:55,866 --> 00:49:00,304
They too are exhausted,
but unwilling to quit.
699
00:49:02,907 --> 00:49:05,343
Here, Americans liberate Koreans
700
00:49:05,376 --> 00:49:08,579
who had been toiling
at Japanese gunpoint.
701
00:49:19,890 --> 00:49:24,728
They report Japanese are still
inside, and won’t surrender.
702
00:49:25,796 --> 00:49:28,732
Once all the Koreans are out,
703
00:49:28,766 --> 00:49:32,236
a demolition team
seals the cave shut.
705
00:49:37,041 --> 00:49:41,245
Iwo Jima is now
an island of tombs.
706
00:49:41,278 --> 00:49:47,651
Some 20,000 Japanese and
7,000 Americans are dead.
707
00:49:47,685 --> 00:49:48,953
We were told the
whole operation
708
00:49:48,986 --> 00:49:51,188
would take only
three to four days.
709
00:49:51,222 --> 00:49:57,829
It turned out to be
36 days of pure hell.
711
00:50:00,664 --> 00:50:04,868
Japan can sense the
pressure coming from all fronts.
712
00:50:04,902 --> 00:50:07,738
Ships from the sea.
713
00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:11,842
Boots on the ground.
714
00:50:13,511 --> 00:50:16,748
And fire from the sky.
715
00:50:20,518 --> 00:50:24,389
The Japanese Empire is
on the verge of collapse,
716
00:50:24,421 --> 00:50:28,859
but there is no
sign of surrender.
717
00:50:28,893 --> 00:50:31,362
Americans have one
more island to take
718
00:50:31,395 --> 00:50:37,268
before invading Japan itself.
719
00:50:37,301 --> 00:50:41,806
Survivors of Peleliu and
Iwo Jima are on their way --
720
00:50:41,839 --> 00:50:45,443
to Okinawa.
721
00:50:45,476 --> 00:50:49,914
Don’t ask them
which one is worse.
722
00:50:49,947 --> 00:50:52,082
I can’t answer that.
723
00:50:52,116 --> 00:50:57,154
How do you compare hell to hell?
53751
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