At the beginning of the second day, three marine battalions
held a small foothold on Betio's
lagoon beach. They were ordered to attack at 6:00 A.M. while the
2nd Division reserves, the 1st
and 3rd battalions of the Eighth Marines were brought up to the
reef. As the Japanese defenders
opened up on the wading-in marines, Colonel Shoup of Major
Crowe's battalion at the far east
side of the lagoon ordered a desperate attack to halt the
slaughter of incoming marines. Only 450
of the 800 incoming men made it to the beach. But with this
fresh reserve, the central battalion
punched its way inland, across the airstrip, and seized a part of
the island's sough shore.
Meanwhile a high tide flooded the lagoon, allowing reinforcement
boats to pass over the reef and
come directly up to shore. The arrival of tanks in support of
all three battalions on the
beachheads proved critical that day. The tanks rolled up to the
front lines, taking out Japanese
pill boxes and other fortifications at close range.
By dusk, the 6th Marines, after having secured the nearby
island of Makin, paddled over the
reef in rubber boats and landed on the western beach. There,
they met up with Major Ryan's
ravaged western lagoon assault battalion. Reinforced, and having
gained ground, the second day
came to an end. Marine Colonel Shoup radioed the daily situation
report back to the command
ships: "Casualties: many. Percentage dead: unknown. Combat
efficiency: we are winning."
Meanwhile, Admiral Shibasaki was sending his last radio message
to Tokyo: "Our weapons have
been destroyed. From now on everyone is attempting a final
charge. May Japan exist for ten
thousand years!"
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