Combat Photographer Recalls Bloodiest Battle
May 28, 2012
The horrific battle for the small Pacific island of Tarawa in 1943 was one of the bloodiest of World War II. U.S. Marine Sergeant Norman Hatch was there. But instead of a rifle, Hatch carried a camera and the film he shot helped to change Americans’ view of the war. The combat photographer reminisced about the fierce struggle for the island.
Documenting a war
"That is the picture of the photographers of the 2nd Marine division that landed on Tarawa. I am right here, at the top. They are all gone, all gone. I have never forgotten the battle at Tarawa. The Japanese lost about 4,000 people in that particular battle. We were about a little over 1,000 killed and about 2,200 somewhat wounded in 76 hours," he recalled.
Nearly 70 years later, those memories remain fresh for 91-year-old Norman Hatch.
“When you get into the battle, the blood begins to race and you do your job. My job was to take pictures," said Hatch. "I had to shoot the pictures the best way I could possibly shoot them.
In the midst of battle
Hatch carried a hand-cranked 35-millimeter movie camera. He waded in right beside machine gunners going ashore.
“Looking through the viewfinder and trying to frame the story that I was shooting, it was like what you were looking at a movie. And in a sense, I felt detached in a degree from what was happening around me,” he said.
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