#OTD in 1943, the Battle of Tarawa began. This scene from the Academy Award winning documentary "With the Marines at Tarawa" of @Marines firing on Japanese soldiers in the open is believed to be the only combat footage that captures American and Japanese individuals in the same frame | U.S. Naval Institute

13K views · 789 reactions | On Nov. 20, 1943, U.S. Marines and sailors with the 2nd Marine Division commenced the Battle of Tarawa, a major offensive during #WWII. The ensuing 76-hour fight saw unprecedented bloodshed for both U.S. and Japanese forces. The U.S. emerged victorious, however, and would eventually defeat the Japanese in the Pacific in August 1945. | U.S. Department of War | Facebook

Norm Hatch was a Marine Corp Combat Cameraman and landed on Tarawa to document the attack on the island for the Marine Corp. The film footage that was captured by Norm Hatch would be used in the film With the Marines at Tarawa a 1944 short documentary film. The film won the 1944 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. Norm Hatch filming the Bunker Attack is more than likely the first Medal of Honor action captured on film, 1st Lieutenant Bonnyman would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Hono

And the Oscar goes to...the Marine Corps! See the film that won the U.S. Marine Corps their own Oscar at the 1945 Academy Awards. “With the Marines at Tarawa” won in the category of best short film documentary. It depicts the battle between the Marines and the Japanese for control of the island of Tarawa during World War II. The "With the Marines at Tarawa" Oscar is on display in our WWII Gallery. Stop by soon to see it! | National Museum of the Marine Corps