19 Jan 2025 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

U.S. Marine inspects a Japanese beach bunker.

[Bob Womack]

A friend who was a Marine communication specialist went in to the beach on the third day at Tarawa, and survived. As a result, he ended up back-watered on Tarawa for the duration. He said they would go down to the beach every morning and swim before breakfast, but that they always had an over-watch. Apparently, for the rest of the war, individual Japanese soldiers would pop up at random and try to pick off a swimming U.S. soldier.

Bob

[CINDERS]

I think also Bob on Iwo Jima they were still active right up until 1949 think the longest one was Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda was the last Japanese soldier to surrender after World War II, holding out in the Philippine jungle for 29 years. He surrendered on March 9, 1974.

[RAM1ALASKA]

Seeing the helmet and belt laying on the ground makes me wonder,
Maybe his partner jumped in to have a look around?

[jond41403]

That's what it looks like to me ram1Alaska, where the Japanese were short, I'm sure their bunkers were lower so his buddy most likely took his helmet and belt off to be able to fit in there. I noticed there's no canteen in his canteen cover. I wonder if his buddy just went in there with basically a 45?

[CINDERS]

Appears to be a scorched earth area perhaps a flame thrower or flame throwing Sherman silenced the bunker as they were very stoutly built pretty much impervious to most stuff.
They found a flamethrower burned them up & used up all the oxygen in the bunker causing the demise of the occupants if not by flame then lack of 02 pretty brutal way to go but the Pacific was a brutal affair with an unyielding foe.
RIP to all the allied service personnel that went through those islands always on patrol.