''With the Marines at Tarawa'' is a 1944 short
documentary film directed by Louis Hayward. It uses authentic footage taken at the
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...
to tell the story of the American servicemen from the time they get the news that they are to participate in the invasion to the final taking of the island and raising of the Stars and Stripes.
Synopsis
Most of the film is in full color and it uses no actors, making it a valuable historical document. The documentary showed more gruesome scenes of battle than other war films to date. Marine Staff Sergeant
Norman T. Hatch
Norman Thomas Hatch (March 2, 1921 – April 22, 2017) was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who filmed much of the combat footage used in the documentary film ''With the Marines at Tarawa''.
Early life
Hatch was born in Boston, Massachusetts, a ...
, armed with a
.45 caliber pistol
The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...
and a
Bell & Howell hand-cranked
Eyemo camera, captured
35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
footage as near as 15 yards away from the enemy during combat. According to the documentary ''
The War'', President
Franklin D. Roosevelt himself gave approval for showing the film, against the wishes of many advisors.
Since the pictures were far too graphic to meet the standards of Hollywood producers and distributors, only the President could grant permission for its release to the general public. President Roosevelt consulted the only man who was present at the Battle of Tarawa that he personally knew and trusted, ''Time-Life'' photographer
Robert Sherrod
Robert Lee Sherrod (February 8, 1909 – February 13, 1994) was an American journalist, editor and writer. He was a war correspondent for ''Time'' and ''Life'' magazines, covering combat from World War II to the Vietnam War. During World ...
. Quoting Sherrod, "I tell the President the truth. Our soldiers on the front ''want'' people back home to know that they ''don't'' knock the hell out of them every day of every battle. They ''want'' people to understand that war is a horrible, nasty business, and to say otherwise is to do a disservice to those who died." Based on Sherrod's prompting, FDR agreed to release the film, uncensored.
The film won the 1944
Oscar for
Best Documentary Short Subject
This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...
.
The
Oscar was presented to the US Marine Corps, and today a replica Oscar is displayed at the
National Museum of the Marine Corps. Due to the shortages of metals needed during the war effort, the Academy presented the Marine Corps with a plaster statue in the shape of a tablet. It is also housed at the same museum, but is not on display.
The
Academy Film Archive preserved ''With the Marines at Tarawa'' in 2005.
See also
*
List of American films of 1944
References
External links
*
* Norman Hatch interview http://www.theworldatwar.info/normanhatch.html
*
*
The entire film streamed at the National Public Radio website Part of a story by Tom Bowman, "WWII Combat Cameraman: 'The Public Had To Know'," Mon March 22, 2010, which includes an interview w/ cinematographer Staff Sgt. Norman T. Hatch.
''With the Marines at Tarawa''
at the National Archives and Records Administration
{{DEFAULTSORT:With The Marines At Tarawa
1944 short films
Battle of Tarawa
Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners
American short documentary films
Films about the United States Marine Corps
American World War II propaganda shorts
Kiribati in World War II
Articles containing video clips
1944 documentary films
1940s short documentary films
Universal Pictures short films
Pacific War films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films