Tinian, Mariana Islands 24 July 1944. WWII U.S. V Amphibious Corps 2ND and 4TH Marine Divisions vs. Japanese Army Tinian sat three miles from Saipan, flat, hot, and valuable. The Marine Corps wanted it, and the Japanese knew it. The obvious beaches were near Tinian Town and Sunharon Harbor. It was wider, cleaner, and exactly where Japan focused their defenses to slaughter the Americans. But the strategy was predictable, so they put the Recon teams to work. White Beach 1 and White Beach 2 were barely beaches. One was only 60 yards long with coral, reefs, tight lanes, and almost no room for men, vehicles, or mistakes. On paper, they were terrible ideas, but that was the point. Recon Marines and Underwater Demolition Teams went in at night and checked whether infantry and vehicles could get ashore without everybody drowning. The answer was yes, barely, if they left the swim waivers in the motor pool, but it was doable. On July 24, 1944, about 15,600 Marines landed and the plan worked. The Japanese had built their attention around the convenient beaches. By 0800, three battalions were ashore in about 20 minutes with bulldozers and tanks shortly after. The fight was still ugly as the Japanese counter attack hit that night. Mines, caves, heat, and close terrain still had to be paid for in blood. The Americans lost 389 killed and 1,816 wounded. More than 5,000 Japanese troops were killed. Thousands of civilians died or were interned. By August 1, Tinian was secured. Then Seabees turned it into one of the busiest airfields of the war. B-29s launched from there against Japan, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sometimes when you know you're in a fight, and you know that they know, you know what they know, you know they know. You can catch em with their kimono down.