Return to Tarawa

The battle to take the island of Tarawa from Japanese occupiers in November 1943 may not be as famous as the later assault on Iwo Jima, but as the first major amphibious offensive launched by the Allies in the central Pacific, it held great strategic significance. Memories of the enormous losses endured on Tarawa (a portentous sign of just how arduous the Pacific campaign would become) are still fresh in the mind of Leon Cooper, who was a naval ensign ferrying U.S. Marines to Red Beach, the primary landing area. Narrated by Ed Harris, Steven C. Barber's documentary records Cooper's recent return to the site, beginning with rudimentary historical background that draws on archival material to trace U.S.-Japanese relations and the attack on Pearl Harbor, while also sketching Cooper's pre-enlistment life. But the emphasis in Return to Tarawa is on the savagery of the fighting, described by Cooper over stills and film footage, and on his anger at finding the beach untended, strewn with refuse, unexploded ordnance, and even uncollected human remains—a discovery that spurs him to meet with U.S. and Kiribati officials on a crusade to create a proper memorial to those who died. Cooper is a salty dog (occasionally dropping obscenities into his conversation) whose inspiring story is effectively told here. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)