The Navy and Marine Corps attacked the Tarawa atoll on November 20th, 1943.\xa0 It was their first objective in the drive across the Central Pacific.\xa0 The island was defended by 2,600 Japanese troops and about 2,200 Japanese and Korean laborers.\xa0 They had spent nine months fortifying the atoll.\xa0 Most of the action took place on Betio.\xa0 Betio is the largest island in the atoll but it is only covered six tenths of a square mile big.\xa0 In 76 hours it took to seize Betio, 1,009 Sailors and Marines died, along with virtually the entire Japanese garrison.\xa0 It was a battle of utmost savagery and the reason Joseph Alexander used it for the title of this book.\xa0