| Original caption: “Battle of Tarawa: Prisoners.” 5 prisoners, likely Korean laborers, in varying states of dress, are sitting on a beach. The leftmost man rests his arms, 1 of which is injured, on his legs, which are also wounded, while the other captured men raise their arms. The man next to him has a head wound. The 2nd and 3rd men from the left are wearing Jika-tabi (“ground socks”) with rubber treads. A group of United States Marines sits and stands in the background. The leftmost man’s arm and leg wounds were dressed. The head injury was also tended to. The man smiled after receiving medical treatment. The Prisoners of War were stripped and checked for weapons, especially explosives. Prisoners, most of whom were captured when they were incapacitated, were held in an improvised barbed wire stockade. Only 17 Japanese and a 129 Korean laborers of the Betio garrison of 4,836 Imperial Japanese Navy forces and Taiwanese and Korean laborers survived to be captured. The prisoners were loaded onto LVT-1 Amtracs for removal from Betio. Only 8 men – 1 Leading Seaman, 6 Petty Officers, and a Warrant Officer – were Rikusentai of the Sasebo 7th or 3rd Special Naval Landing Forces. Japanese police accompanied the Korean construction battalions, and their treatment was based on brutality. In 1943, during the height of the Pacific War, Americans had difficulty telling, or caring, about the difference between Japanese and Koreans. Korea, a Japanese possession for 40 years by 1943, was considered part of the Japanese Empire. The Koreans did talk to Marine Intelligence, revealing that naval bombardment had cut Japanese communications, preventing counterattacks on the evening of D-Day. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1601.jpg |
| Image Size | 649.04 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2920 x 2268 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 22, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Betio |
| State or Province | Tarawa |
| Country | Gilberts |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-127-N-64363 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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