U.S. Marines wade ashore on Tinian. Their landing barges halted by a reef offshore, U.S.

U.S. Marines wade ashore on Tinian. Their landing barges halted by a reef offshore, U.S. Marines wade the rest of the way to the beach on Tinian Island, Japanese base in the Central Pacific. More fortunate are Marines in the amphibious tractor (upper left), which claws its way over the underwater barrier. Tinian, only two and one half miles (4 kilometers) south of the captured enemy bastion of Saipan, fell to the Americans on August 1, 1944. Possession of the two islands, both in the Marianas, will place American ships and aircraft within practical operating distance of the Japanese homeland and enemy bases in the Philippines.