Hello,

First, thanks to all you fellow vets who gave me the freedom I enjoy today...Thank You!!!

To my question...the Marines/Navy moved through the islands in the Pacific to obtain bases from which we could attack/reach the Japanese home islands by air...at first...then by land. A friend and I were going over history in the Pacific, looking at a world globe, and the question came up...why did we fight on Tarawa & Kwajalene (maybe a couple more islands), these islands were so far from Japan and easy to isolate. Could we not have isolated those islands by cutting off the supply chain, thereby rendering them no threat, thus eliminating the need to fight there.

Just curious

Thanks in advance for your help

Mike
US NAVY

ps "Is it true the Marines are a department of the Navy? Yes...the men's department!!" A Marine friend pointed this out to me

Air bases & sheltered anchorages for the fleet/s that were to advance further towards Japan. The flanks of the lines of communcation or sea lanes needed to be protected. We did not want Japanese aircraft, surface ships, or submarines to raid our supply route to the west and south to Austraila. So, some islands were needed to base patrols and counter forces. And, the fleet needed sheltered anchorages for the supply ships and for harboring the warships when not in action, Returning all the way to Pearl Harbor everytime the ships ammo magazine or fuel tanks needed to be topped off was not as efficient.

The islands further west in the Marshalls became the primary objective for the airbases to attack Japan, and Okinanwa was finally chossen as a supply base for the final attack. In hindsight more of the intermeadiate islands could have been bypassed, but the US leaders did not have all the information we do now and had to make some tough decsions.

Tarawa served two purposes:

The first was it was a test case for the Marines on how to invade heavily defended atolls successfully.

The second was that Tarawa was a necessary stepping stone for retaking the Gilbert and Marshall Island chains. To not take the primary islands that had harbors and airfields in these island chains left the possibility that Japan could continue to use them to harass shipping and as bases for reconnissance. Therefore taking them was a necessity.

"To my question...the Marines/Navy moved through the islands in the Pacific to obtain bases from which we could attack/reach the Japanese home islands by air...at first...then by land."

As others have stated, it was primarily to neutralize Japanese air bases.

As for Kwajalein Atoll, it wasn't only Marines. The Fourth Marine Division took Roi and Namur islands in the north of the atoll, whilst the Seventh Division of the U.S. Army took Kwajalein Island in the south.

JT