In November 1943 during the Pacific War, American soldiers pulled the body of a Japanese soldier killed in action at Tarawa, the site of a suicidal defense in the Gilbert Islands, out of a trench using an iron wire looped around his ankle.

   In November 1943, during the Pacific War, American soldiers dragged the body of a Japanese soldier killed in action at Tarawa—which had become a site of total annihilation in the Gilbert Islands—out of a trench using wire looped around both ankles. Other American soldiers watched the dragging, grinning faintly.

   In November 1943, the U.S. military invaded the Japanese-held Gilbert Islands, overrunning Japanese outposts across the Pacific islands. On November 20th, a force of approximately 35,000 U.S. troops launched an amphibious assault on Betio Island in the Tarawa group and the Makin Atoll. Defenses on Makin Atoll were minimal. The heavily fortified island of Betio led to the 76-hour Battle of Tarawa. By November 1943, 4,830 Japanese soldiers defended it. Pillboxes and defensive trenches were positioned throughout the island's interior.

  On the morning of November 20, U.S. forces advanced approximately 90 meters to shore under intense Japanese artillery fire. Crossing the breakwater to establish a base proved difficult. They secured small beachheads at the westernmost tip and the central northern beach. On November 21, U.S. forces pushed inland toward the central airstrip. They quickly secured a beachhead on the western side. On November 22, as the Americans began their eastward advance, Japanese machine gun fire hindered their progress. Attacks from the north and west forced the remaining Japanese defenders into a small pocket on the eastern side. That night, they regrouped for a Banzai counterattack. Subsequently, they launched a second, third, and fourth Banzai charge. This attack became the Japanese Army's last organized assault against the Americans and ended in total annihilation.

   By the morning of November 23, the only remaining Japanese forces on Betio were confined to a small pocket on the eastern side of the island. The Americans destroyed the last defensive positions. The American front line reached the eastern tip of Betio, and the island's capture was declared. Isolated Japanese soldiers continued to surface for weeks after the battle. Except for 146 prisoners of war, the Japanese garrison was annihilated. Of the 1,021 U.S. soldiers killed in the Battle of Tarawa, approximately 350 were listed as missing, many of whom were killed on the first day of the assault by Japanese artillery and machine gun fire. The Japanese forces met the Americans with 4,830 men, but 4,684 were killed in action. The 146 prisoners of war taken by the Americans were mostly Korean laborers.