| Original caption: “Digging ‘em out – As the Saipan operation reached the end the United States Marines had to search every dugout, gull, cave and any place an enemy might hide. Here, in the process of slowly digging the stray enemy out of their corners, the Marines have just thrown a TNT charge into a [Japanese] dugout and while one escapes the blast by crouching in a shell hole the other simply turn their backs to the force.” 2 United States Marines use an M37 satchel charge, consisting of 8 blocks of Trinitrotoluene (TNT), set off with a time pencil detonator. 1 has a M1912 Winchester 12-gauge shotgun for close-quarters combat, and the other has an M1 30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) carbine. Japanese propaganda was powerfully successful in convincing Japanese civilians not to surrender – death was the only option. Japanese soldiers killed their own people. Even without soldiers present, Japanese parents would kill their own children and their spouses, often cutting their throats; children would be bayoneted. Japanese soldiers had children in circles throw live grenades like balls. All of this was made easier by Japanese notions of honour relating to surrender that civilians as well as soldiers seem to have imbibed. In the end, some 10 to 12,000 of the 20 to 30,000 civilians on the island died, including almost a 1,000 Chamorros and Carolinians. How many committed suicide as opposed to dying as “collateral damage” – to use the awful euphemism – in the battle is not clear. Still, the suicides at Marpi Point, while dramatic and recorded by American film crews, probably did not claim as many civilian lives as were lost in combat. American troops approaching a cave complex had the choice of entering to find out who was hidden inside, attempting to negotiate the occupants’ surrender, or using a flamethrower or satchel charge to deal with the problem before moving on to the next minor battle. Many marines and soldiers, especially after July 9, when tempers calmed, used verbal persuasion. Still, without their speaking Japanese, there was no way the civilians would know what was being said to them. Verbal persuasion was also time-consuming. An American serviceman had to choose between risking his life going into a cave, leaving the cave, which could be full of soldiers who could later emerge and attack the Americans from the back, or using blunt force and killing everyone inside. Unsurprisingly, the preferred tactical method was to “seal” the cave, another euphemism that meant death for those inside. United States Marine Sergeant Robert B. Opper (October 7, 1922 – December 17, 1985), of Los Angeles, California, was awarded the Bronze Star for his photographs taken at Saipan and Tinian. After World War II, he worked in the film industry. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1524.jpg |
| Image Size | 421.42 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1771 x 1409 |
| Photographer | Robert B. Opper |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 1, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Saipan |
| Country | Marianas |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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