World War II Photographs

26-G-2710 Marines unload oil drums from a Coast Guard-manned tank lighter and roll them through the surf and onto the beach of Tinian Island, Marianas base near Guam. Off shore stands a concentration of the American invasion armada including lighters, alligators, LSTs and LCVPs. Striking swiftly with terrific force, the Yankees soon crushed Japanese resistance on Tinian.

26-G-2711 Medical treatment is given to Coast Guard and Marine casualties on the deck of a landing barge as it moves out from the embattled beaches of Guam with its cargo of wounded American invaders. Damaged by heavy Japanese mortar fire, the bow ramp is heaved into place by an improvised block and tackle rigged by Coast Guard crewman. Its mechanical hoisting device was knocked out by the fire.

26-G-2713 Back from the fighting lines beyond Guam’s beaches, four Coast Guardsmen bring out a wounded buddy on a litter to the be treated aboard a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport off shore. He fell from mortar fire. back ofthe litter bearers is an amphibious tractor, known as an alligator. The litter bearers are, from left to right: Joseph Friel, Seaman First Class, of Philadelphia, Penn.; Daniel McGinn, Motor Machinist’s Mate Third Class, of Philadelphia; and Joseph Krynicky, Seaman First Class, of Passaic, New Jersey.

26-G-3015 U.S. Coast Guardsmen at Tarawa pass the protruding hulk of an American tank lighter, wrecked by a direct hit from a heavy shore gun, as they bring supplies to our beachhead. The men were under fire when this picture was taken by a photographer attached to a Coast Guard combat transport operating as unit of a Navy task force.

26-G-3034 U.S. Coast Guardsmen at Tarawa pause for a look at a Japanese field gun. The half denuded and broken trees and the torn up ground bear mute evidence of the fighting that raged here. The Coast Guardsmen served in the Navy task force.

26-G-3192 Little suspecting the hell that awaits them, U.S marines wait aboard a Coast Guard-manned combat transport at Tarawa for the invasion barges that will take them ashore. Beyond the rail, Coast Guard coxswains can be seen maneuvering loaded barges. On the horizon, other vessels are faintly visible.

26-G-3237 At Bititu Island, Tarawa atoll, trucks run supplies from the belly of a Coast Guard-manned LST across protecting reefs that guarded the heavily-fortified island. Five hundred yards of reef girded the shore, according to Coast Guard Lieutenant R.T. Leary of Green Farms, Conn., who commanded this LST.

26-G-3238 Only the log gateway (torii) of a Japanese Shinto shrine remains after withering fire of the American invasion of Bititu Island, Tarawa. The arch, in background, is believed to have been a Japanese gallows, according to Coast Guard Lieutenant, R. T. Leary of Green Farms, Conn., who participated in the invasion with Coast Guardsmen, manning transports and landing craft.

26-G-3241 Shorn of foliage and strewn with wreckage, the shores of Tarawa appeared as if a cyclone had struck, when a Coast Guard combat photographer snapped this picture after the Marine invasion. In foreground is the wreckage of two Japanese landing craft beached at a boat repair depot. Off-shore are Coast Guard-manned LSTs.

26-G-3242 Somewhere in the Pacific, a Marine division embarks with alligators and big guns for the invasion of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Manned by Coast Guardsmen, LSTs carried the Marines to the Japanese-held atoll and debarked them for the historic seizure of the enemy island fort.

26-G-3243 At a supply base somewhere in the Pacific, Coast Guard-manned LSTs receive a Marine division and its equipment designated for the invasion of Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands. In front, right, are alligators used in storming over reefs protecting Bititu Island.

26-G-3342 Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who stormed and captured Engebi Island in the Marshalls, display a bullet-riddled Japanese flag, which went down under the terrific firepower of the American’s initial sweep from the Coast Guard-manned landing barges.

26-G-3344 After wiping out the Japanese defenders of Engebi Atoll in the Marshall Islands, Coast Guardsmen and Marines bring back a bullet-torn Japanese battle flag, captured in the invasion. here they pull along side a Coast Guard-manned transport in a landing barge and make ready to climb up the landing net. They brought out Japanese flags and guns as souvenirs of the conquest.

26-G-3363 Coast Guard-manned landing craft, the sea-going taxicabs and trucks of invasion, crowd the shallow waters off Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshalls, while on the beach piles of supplies to back the invaders pile up.

26-G-3365 Coast Guardsmen shuttle landing craft back and forth form the anchorage to the beach of Eniwetok Atoll, bringing in fighters and supplies, carrying back the wounded. On the beach supply dumps swiftly pile up.

26-G-3372 Its bayonet and muzzle driven into the sand, a rifle marks the spot where a marine lies dead on the beach of Parry Island, Eniwetok Atoll, awaiting litter barriers. In background is a coast Guard-manned landing barge, one of the swarm that landed Marines on Eniwetok’s beaches.

26-G-3373 An American Marine, in foreground, still clutches the knife with which he killed a Japanese soldier, in background, in a duel on Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll. A moment after finishing off his adversary, a sniper’s bullet killed the Marine. Coast Guardsmen brought these hardy fighters to the beaches.

26-G-3379 Leaders of the amphibious invasion of Eniwetok Atoll by Army, Marine, Coast Guard, and Navy forces examine a capture Japanese flag. They are, left to right: Colonel Russell G. Ayers, Brigadier General Thomas E. Watson and Rear Admiral Harry AW. Hill, commanding the Army, Marines, and Navy forces in the conquest.

26-G-3381 Storming ashore from Coast Guard-manned landing craft, American Marines stalk a Japanese sniper in the quick cleanup of Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshalls. On the horizon, a Coast Guard-manned assault transport is visible.

26-G-3382 From Coast Guard-manned landing barges, American Marines with rifles and machine guns advance along the beach of Eniwetok. The conquest of the Japanese stronghold was swift and complete. On the horizon ships of the Navy task force, which included Coast Guard-manned assault transports, are visible

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