Above: U.S. troops of the 2d Battalion, 165th Infantry, struggle to shore on Yellow Beach on Butaritari (Makin) Island following a naval gunfire bombardment. Photo from the U.S. national Archives and in the Public Domain. Click to enlarge.

Left: Makin Island, November 1943. An M3 Stuart Light Tank, bogged down in a shell crater, holds up the U.S. Army's advance on the narrow causeway north of Jill lake. Photo by a U.S. Army Combat Photographer and in the Public Domain. Click to enlarge.

Background, 1942
Occupied just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the tiny atoll of Makin became a brief Japanese stronghold that had tested a Japanese Naval garrison and U.S. Marines of the 2nd Raider Battalion. The Marine Corps' raid and mission was to gather intelligence, secure prisoners, destroy communications, and divert attention away from Allied landings planned for Guadalcanal and Tulagi. Overall, the raid was not successful, and resulted in the execution of nine U.S. Marine Raiders taken prisoner and later executed (beheaded) on Kwajalein Atoll. After the War, Japanese Vice Admiral of the Imperial Navy Koso Abe was executed by hanging for the murder of the nine U.S. Marines.

Left: Admiral Chester Nimitz pinning the Navy Cross on Doris "Dorie" Miller on the USS Enterprise at Pearl Harbor, 27 May 1942. Photo in the Public Domain. Click to enlarge.

Battle of Makin, 1943
Following the 1942 raid on Makin Atoll, the tiny island, lagoon and seabase was garrisoned with 700-800 Japanese soldiers and laborers. The battle lasted just four days, won by the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division, which was comprised of a regimental combat team, the 165th Infantry Regiment (the famed "Fighting 69th"), 3rd Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 105th Field Artillery Battalion and the 193rd Tank Battalion. Although the U.S. Army's casualties were low--218 killed or wounded--the U.S. Navy suffered a devastating loss with the sinking of the USS Liscome Bay on 24 November 1943. The aircraft carrier was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, I-175, which resulted in the deaths of 644 officers and men of the U.S. Navy's carrier. One of the men lost was Pearl Harbor Navy Cross recipient and hero (Cook Third Class) Dorie Miller (pictured above).

Multimedia: Video, Web, Photo, and Discussion
Video: The Battles of Makin and Tarawa  |  Website: Naval History and Heritage Command: Battle of Makin Island