Cheap V for Victory: Tarawa and the Island War (Video) (V for Victory) Price

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Customer Reviews of V for Victory: Tarawa and the Island War

Trading men for islands that now meant something
The Japanese plan in world war two was not to defeat the Americans in the Pacific. Their plan was to carry out a series of lightning strikes, conquering as much territory as possible. From these fortified positions, they would then hold off the Americans in a series of defensive, bloody battles where they felt the Americans would negotiate a peace rather than accept the high casualties.
The fallacy of that policy was first demonstrated in the battle for Tarawa, where the American marines proved to be tough, engaging in a ferocious assault on an island the Japanese thought would hold out for weeks or months. It fell in a few days, and was only the preliminary battle in a recurring movement of island-hopping that ended at Okinawa. The ferocity of the battle for Tarawa and the other islands is quite clear from the tape. Both sides knew the stakes for their nations and so it was essentially a fight to the death for all of them. Had the Americans suffered a defeat at Tarawa, or if the Japanese had held out for weeks or months, the course of the war would have been significantly altered. You cannot help but appreciate the bravery and valor that was exhibited on both sides of the battles.
At the start of the war, the leaders of Japan and Germany had a very low opinion of the fighting abilities of the American armed forces, and quite frankly some of the initial battles of the war reinforced these beliefs. However, as you can see from this tape, that was only a temporary condition which was quickly remedied and was the true key to victory. One lesson that is often ignored from the massive American military aid to South Vietnam is that without the will to win, even the best quality and quantity of military equipment will not lead to victory.

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Misleading and disappointing
The title of this video tape is very misleading "V for Victory: Tarawa and the Island War". Only about the first four minutes of this tape was about Tarawa, which I was very interested in. There were no details about the strategy of the landing, or any details. To me, this tape was just a waste of money and very disappointing. A really detailed, worthwhile tape about Tarawa can be ordered through Fox News - War Stories with Oliver North.

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Harrowing newsreel footage of the bloodiest battle of WWII
Volume VI in the "V for Victory" series represents one of the lesser known periods of the Pacific campaign of World War II, which fell in between the epic battles for the islands of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. "Tarawa and the Island War" looks at the battle in November 1943 for the pivotal atoll in the Gilbert Islands, which proved to be one of the bloodiest of the war. This documentary tells the story primarily through contemporary newsreel stories, introduced by veteran journalists Eric Sevareid and Edwin Newman. Hard to believe Tarawa is sort of the forgotten battle of World War II, given that the 2nd Marine Division's initial landing became a complete disaster when the landing craft were stuck on reefs a half-mile from shore. But in the end only 17 of the island's 4,800 Japanese defenders were left alive. I think the decision to devote an entire episode in this 10 volume documentary series to this bloody battle is a testament its overall scopes. The use of newsreel stories provides an sense of intimacy that you do not get with most documentaries or Hollywood films. You really do get a sense of being on the home front and getting the news at your local movie theater.