Navy spokesmen last week tried to correct the impression at home that Tarawa's cost had been too high (TIME, Dec. 13).
Dead, wounded & missing were fewer than the previously announced 3,583. Best unofficial estimate: 800 killed, 150 missing, 2,100 wounded a total of 3,050.
Survivors of the baby flat-top Liscome Bay, torpedoed offshore during the Gil berts invasion, numbered 268. This fact indicated that almost as many men went down with the ship as died on Tarawa; yet no one got particularly excited about the Liscome Bay.
Brigadier General Merritt A. Edson, Marine veteran of Guadalcanal and Ta rawa, contended that Tarawa's...
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