Betio Island was the primary objective of several during the invasion of the Tarawa atoll. The more or less wedged shaped island, is only about 900 yards wide at it's wides point and less than 4,000 yards long. One can stand on the beach on the ocean side and see the water of the lagoon on the other side. On this tiny island the Japanese crammed about 4,500 defenders in the strongest man made defensive postions that could be constructed on such an island.

Of all the objectives of US and allied amphibious forces assaulted during WW II on Nov. 20th, 1943 tiny Betio Island of the Tarawa atoll had more defenders and more fire power per square foot than any other and many of the beaches were heavily mined. The officers manning the 8" guns which were the largest on the island had been coastal artillery instructors in Japan before being deployed to Tarawa. There was no avoiding concentrated fire power from the defenders by those making the assault over the first two days. And to make matters worse invasion plans did not account for a reef that stopped all but the tracked assault craft (LVTs)and so the majority of the invaders had to wade 500 to 1000 yards exposed to heavy fire before they even made it to the beach, if they made it at all.

Check these graphic sites out if you don't believe me. http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/jp-betio-island/index.html
This site shows the official after action study done by military engineers of the islands defenses after the invasion. Admiral Nimitz had to understand what the Navy and Marines had faced and why the massive preinvasion bombardment had been so ineffective and thus ordered this study. Based on the study above changes in weapons and tactics were made by the Marines and navy. Also an island in the Pacific with fortifications duplicating those on Tarawa was constructed. From that time one every US Navy ship on it's way to the Pacific theater that may be tasked with preinvasion bombardment missions had to go and live fire on that range with acceptable results before it was deployed for action in the Pacific.

To my way of thinking the condition of these beaches is an affront to every American fighting man and to every Tarawa vet, living or dead. The Gilbert islands of which Tarawa is a part is not a US possession, but should not maybe a little of Obama's stimulus money be used to send Americans to clean this mess up periodically? Or do you think it would be a waste of time and resources?

A couple of asides:

During the invasion of Betio the actor Eddie Albert received a Bronze Star for his actions as a Navy Lt. JG commanding a landing craft tasked with "slavage". What he actually ended up doing was saving the lives of many Marines wounded while still in the water and shutteling them back to the fleet for medical attention.  He also came across a stunned Japanese officer that was the first of very few Japanese fighting men taken prisoner during the assault.  

Photographs and snips of movies of dead Marines, lots of them, on the beaches of Betio island inadvertently made it past censors and ended up in newspapers and newreels in the states.  So during the Thanksgiving Holiday season citizens of the United States saw the first photos of military dead since a few published immediatly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt went ballistic over this but his commanders, including Admiral King, convinced him that the American people had a right to know just how tough the fight against the Japanese was and what to expect in the future.

De Oppresso Liber