I'm not sure looking at that battle of Tarawa that the U.S was prepared for the slaughter that small patch of sand held installed for them. Perhaps it was the battles of Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal that in the long run forced Truman to authorise the dropping of both nuclear weapons to spare the U.S the horrendous envisaged casualties assaulting mainland Japanicon. God bless them all.