WRECKED TANKS & THE WWII INVASION BEACHES OF SAIPAN | History Traveler Episode 230 

I'm not intending to speak for veterans, but I would think that they would be proud and honored that someone from a younger generation was excited about paying attention and honoring what they did and would know you mean no disrespect. I know whenever I've been around veterans, especially WW II vets, they have all expressed surprise and fascination that I wanted to hear their stories, and by the end of our conversation was thanking me for asking. Kudos, JD.

Being a history buff myself and a veteran. Appreciate all that you do in keeping our history alive. Our Grandfather's sacrafice for our freedoms will always be honored and remembered,.

Hey JD, I never felt even the slightest disrespect by what you were saying. Your love and enthusiasm for the history is what makes this channel so special. My dad was there in a liberty ship during the fighting on Saipan, and he would have been so thankful that you deemed it important enough to tell this story. God bless you sir, and keep up the great work.

Dad was on Saipan after the invasion just before his group was called back to Pear to prepare for the invasion of Japan. He said the biggest event he witnessed there was when several Japanese POW’s escaped and running about the island. He was fascinated with the PT boats he saw there as well. Keeping in mind he was serving our country at 17 years old. Great video! Dad would’ve approved of using “cool” and “awesome” and happy that the story is still being told…

My husband’s grandfather was a member of the 4th Marine Division during the battle of Saipan and Tinian. He would later go on to be a part of Iwojima where he was shell-shocked and removed from combat. He never talked about his service but was the inspiration for my husband becoming a US. Marine. I thank them both for their service.

My grandfather served with the Corp on SAIPAN, OKINAWA, and during the occupation of Japan, loved listening to his stories growing up. Would love to visit Saipan and Okinawa.

Thank you for this video, My Father was a Fleet Marine aboard the USS South Dakota, and his brother, my Uncle George was a forward observer, 4th Marine Division. Uncle George got his purple heart on Saipan, he was shot in the head and back and left for dead, but Navy Corpsman recovered him, and he survived. Both are now at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. I've always wondered what the island and the landing areas looked like. This was outstanding. Thank you.

Two of my uncles participated in one of those “D” days you mention. Thank you for paying respect and not letting us forget. Great job.

All veterans and people that support our military owe you a big thanks for keeping our past from being forgotten. You are doing the work that schools today want to forget. Thanks...

Hafa Adai and Tirow! Thanks for spotlighting my island, brother. Let me know the next time you come through and we’ll crack a beer while we watch sunsets with the group. 😎🤙🏽

My father was in several invasions of the Pacific islands. When the focus was put on the Normandy Invasion, through movies and the D-Day Museum, many of the Pacific Veterans, including my father, felt forgotten. The opening of the Pacific section in the Day-Day Museum along with the parade and hospitality of the people of New Orleans washed many of those feeling away.

I just want to add that Lee Marvin not only had his sciatic nerve severed in battle but he also was wounded in one of his feet. So many heroes.

The fact that you took a moment to note that words like “cool” and “awesome” come from a place of historical reverence was pretty special and hit close to home. It’s hard not to be fascinated and excited in historical places like these. Well done as always, sir.

Crazy how well preserved that tank is in salt water after 78 years.....we are so blessed to have you as our guide on all these adventures JD! Thank you so much!

Wow, today Saipan looks like a dream retirement destination. Thanks for the Lee Marvin connection. The Man Who Shoot Liberty Valance and the Dirty Dozen are my favorite movies with him.

I had the privilege of going on an Honor Flight with a WWII Marine who was there. Thank you for this video.

I had the honor & privilege to attend a reunion of the 4th Marine Division many years ago (even meeting Lee Marvin’s wife who always attended). The men spoke of Saipan but fell silent when speaking of friends who were “slaughtered” (their words) while landing on the beaches. The horror & chaos continued to haunt them 60 years later. Thanks for another stirring video, JD.

Those tanks were both haunting and beautiful at the same time

As the son of a WWII Army Air Corps vet (England), I’ve always been fascinated by such history. In the late 1990’s, I had a trip of a life-time and visited Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Palau, and Peleliu. It is amazing the amount of stuff still left on all the beaches and in the jungles.

You use whatever words you want my friend. We all know how much you love those men for their sacrifice. It really is such a stunning view. The peacefulness that is now there is incredible.

My husband's grandfather was wounded on Siapan. He still had the bullet in him when he died about 20 years ago. Thank you for your videos and the respect you show so that they're not forgotten.

Amazing footage of the outside and inside of the tank! Your B-roll footage, overlaid with historical film, and the very appropriate music makes you one of the best RU-vidrs out there. Thanks for all of the hard work you put in to honor the sacrifice of the heroes of the Pacific theater. Wonderful video!

Thank you so much for taking us along to places that most of us can't go. A love of history is so important !

Really well done. I liked that you mixed in with actual film footage. They truly were The Greatest Generation

Amazing the amount of effort you put into that tank footage, appreciate that very much. The area is beautiful, but, am sure on that day no one was looking at the scenery and it must have been miserable, thank you veterans! Good information, Good video, thank you!

Unbelievable doesnt even come close to describing my feeling watching the close up of the sunken tanks. That was the eeriest sequence of any I have seen in my life. It was as if I could feel and hear the ghosts of Marines desperately wanting to tell their stories of what happened that day. Thank you for this vlog. Unbelievable!

Thank you for your videos! My dad was in the navy in WWII and spent time in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters. At Saipan he was on the USS Satyr. I heard a few stories but my dad really never liked to talk about the war. I found out more from my own research after my dad passed away than he ever told me. He did say his greatest fear was the kamikaze. I really appreciate your bringing WWII to the forefront. I wish kids were still learning about it today.

Amazing how that old Sherman is still there after all those years. Love the camera you used to get the underwater shots and shots inside the hatch. Very cool 👍

This is some of your finest work to date JD, beautifully done! Good job 👏 can't wait to see what's next!

Thank you for being their voice snd telling their story. My Uncles could not when they came home. You are honoring their service and sacrifice by sharing all with us and generations to come. Completely fascinating and extremely humbling.

Again I thank you for keeping WWII history alive, my dad was a B-29 A/C during the war. I can say that those Marines & Army doggies had exceptionally large cojones to do what they did back then & for that the world should be grateful. 🇺🇸

My father in law was in the Second Division fought at Tarawa, Roi Island (Kwajalein) and Saipan. God bless him.

JD, this one of your finest videos. Thank you for the multiple perspectives on the Sherman's. That was super awesome.

Thank you for these videos. Veteran disabled country boy. God bless

Your story telling, camera shots, audio, editing, and overall production, just gets better and better. Nothing less than awesome. Great job and thank you for your history lessons!

Such natural beauty mixed with jagged reminders of war. It’s surreal.

My dad landed on Red Beach 1 with the 6th Marines Scout-Sniper Platoon. June 15, 1944 was his 18th birthday. They had the "pleasure" of fighting off those 44 tanks the next night. He got through Saipan and Tinian more or less in one piece. He did get two Purple Hearts, but he said he was wounded many more times than that by grenade fragmentation. You can read about his platoon's story in "40 Thieves on Saipan" by Joseph Tachovsky who is the platoon commander's son.

props for walking out to show us the tank

Lee Marvin had already landed surreptitiously at the break of dawn as a scout-sniper on 21 different islands in the Marshalls before landing on Saipan with the 4th Marine division. He said he had a choice on Saipan; put his head down and his derriere up or vice versa. He chose to expose his behind and that is where the Japanese machine gunner hit him, almost severing his sciatica nerve. Another round hit him in the foot, while a third landed around three inches from his nose. He was truly pinned down, between a rock and a hard place. As I already said in a previous comment on another video you made in Hawaii JD, Lee Marvin's outfit in the 4th Marines had around 250 men in it, and only about five or six survived the war. Joining the Marines during WW2 was almost a death sentence, with his unit having a 98% killed in action rate. That is the definition of grim. Lee Marvin also commented on the heat on Saipan. He said laying in his bed on the navy hospital ship was hellish. Between the heat, his pain and the other marines crying out in pain at all hours of the night and day it was most unpleasant. My ex's uncle was also on Saipan with the US 27 Infantry division and he took a machine gun round in the back, which caused the army to send him home. The doctor's refused to do surgery to take it out because they were afraid it would leave him paralyzed due to it being right next to his spine and they didn't know what damage had been done. He worked for the post office in Phoenix, AZ for the remainder of his life. He was active for all his years, as far as I know, but that bullet next to his spine must have caused a life of pain. Those guys were some kind of tough. 😯

I love watching The History Underground videos.

Thanks for another great video. My Dad was in the ETO and in his later years expressed his admiration for all those that served with him. He would have choked up while watching this. I miss him every day. Bless you and the Greatest Generation.

I certainly hope no one thinks that you are being disrespectful, these places are cool to see, incredible to stand in that same location where those brave men stood, awesome to be able to see it with your eyes and incredible to have the ability to visit these locations. And I certainly Thank you for taking us along to experience these locations with you 💪🏻😎🥰

Wow, those Sherman tanks submerged in water! Great job behind the camera, those underwater and aerial views were wonderful!👍

My uncle was a marine fighting in Saipan. He made the rank of corporal and said that if he had to of fought deeper inside of Japan he probably would’ve made it out alive. The A bombs prevented it. Thanks to all veterans who have fought for my freedom here and abroad, to you all I am indebted. Gob bless our Vets!

Fantastic work, JD! Look forward to your future journeys into and stories from the Pacific theater. The quality of your work shows the respect you give to the sacrifices made in all of the places you visit.

A friend of mine served with Lee Marvin every step of the way through the war. His name is Norbert Kross and Lee Marvin nicknamed him "shorty". One day in a cantina 3 guys were poking fun at him for being little. Lee whipped all 3 of them for his friend Shorty. Nobert says that Lee was the real deal bad ass. Great video JD. 👍🏼😎

Having been to the Normandy Beaches and hoping to visit so many more historical sites, I understand your excitement. I love this channel. Great job!

Having visited Pearl Harbor and Ford Island, it’s quite surprising how there are no tourists around you. It must be a bit more challenging to get there. Thank you for your videos and your stories!

Great to see he's delving into the Pacific theater. My grandfather was with the 4th Marines at Saipan (and other islands).By all accounts, it was brutal. I'm so appreciative of this channel. Everything is done with such respect for what occurred at the locations and in a way that is unique to the many other history channels out there. Thank you

I stayed in Saipan my whole childhood. I used to go to tank beach with my relatives and it was awesome. When it was high tide that served as a jump spot as well as sugar dock. I even still remember when the little security cement house was on the dock. We’d jump off the roof too. Good times being outside. Big shout out and love to my garapan famillia

JD great job on presenting the beaches at Saipan. I really enjoyed your mixing in period photos with your visit. Great job!

This is amazing. My grandpa took part in the invasion of Saipan, with the 2nd marines. He was shot and wounded in July, just days before they took the island. He was shot on “flame tree hill” just east of Garapan (to the best of my knowledge and research). Amazing to see your video of how it looks modern day. Thanks!

Once again, very well done JD. Mixing in the photos and videos from the war is just awesome. Footage of the tank was amazing. This is why you are growing and growing. Such excellent work. Thank you!

Inhabitants of a free country need reminders that being free is only as good as today if due diligence is not applied to keep it that way. Those ignorant, unempathic of ultimate sacrifices are desstined to repeat history. There are still those and always will be those that think authoritarians provide a better existence lulling in the complacent by coercive control and dark persuasion. The tank in the water stands as a silent testimonial but it really is loud if can hear what got it there. Super excellent video.

I wanted to thank you for going into the Pacific theater of WWII where my grandpa spent the whole war. He was on literally every major island we captured in the Pacific. He was never shot at, thank God, he was in charge of logistics for the 13 and 14 Army Air Corps. However, he died back in 1975, when I was 2. So I never got to speak to him about the war. Thanks for going to the islands he spent 5 years on. Next, you should go to Japan, he was there too.

Ive got to think that the marines landing there felt like sitting ducks trying to get to shore. Hats off to the brave marines that sacrificed their lives to capture that island.

Thank you, especially talking about the 4th Marines there is so little about them!

I'm having a hard time watching this WWII videos. But I'm so glad your showing this. I have little or no information of what my Dad went through in WWII. I know he was in the 893rd TD BN but that's about it. Keep up the good work on reminding us what is sacrificed in war.

Keep up the awesome documentary video’s on the Pacific. I currently live on Saipan now and have lived on Okinawa for the past 30+ years. I also served in the Marines for 30 years and now retired. My Father served in the U.S. Army during WW II and fought in Europe shot up in Anzio. My Step Father also served in the Marines during WW II and on Saipan and came ashore at yellow beach. He also served on Okinawa as I did also. Just let me say Thank you for your education video efforts and I hope a lot of people get to watch them all.

Never knew these tanks were still out there until now. Definitely a new bucket list item! Thanks for another great episode JD!

Thanks for all you do JD! It always amass me the feeling you get in such beautiful places, where so much sacrifice & fighting was done.

Completely incredible. A superb post out of so many each of which is unique and equally superb. Combining the remarkable battle footage of the Marines landing at Saipan with footage of a Sherman Tank left sunk in the lagoon was incredibly moving. Thank you.

Awesome video, JD. I’m loving this Pacific War series.

JD. For myself and everyone on here that would agree with me, thank you so much for the amazingly cool, super duper awesome explorations of our countries history that you bring to us!!! Walking out to that tank was a pretty gnarly thing to do might I add and it was so cool of you to bring us the hands on vision of our history that without you having done that exploration,,,,, most of us would not have ever seen. Thank you!!

Just amazing what those men had to go through just to get to the beach! Thank you JD for bringing this too us. Another great video!

Thanks for doing episodes on the Pacific. This is a fascinating channel. Japanese tanks were no match for Shermans but they were instrumental in early Japanese victories as they would show up in areas where allied armies didn't think tanks could go. Interesting note about Lee Marvin. Thanks again for doing these.

As much as we love everything you do, don’t do anything dodgy just for us. Please.

Just watched this for the second time Great job on doing this JD. My Grandfather was in the 708th amphibious tank battalion company b. His tank commander Captain John Straub was also the company Commander for company b. They were part of the spearhead for the invasion of this island.

I've been waiting for this since you teased it in your Paul Woodadge interview. Thanks for another great video 👍 Now where's the behind the scenes footage of JD wading out to the tank and climbing on top 😉

As a veteran, I very much appreciate your efforts to bring this history to the public

I had an Uncle that was a Navy Corpsman with the 2nd Marines on Saipan. He never talked about it. All I knew he was wounded. Took shrapnel. He passed on a few years ago. My sister went and visited my Aunt and found a citation. While his unit was taking heavy enemy mortar fire he kept exposing himself to take care of the wounded until he was wounded himself. While at the field station they were going to transfer him to one of the ships. He refused to go and stayed at the field station to take care of the wounded Marines.

My father was in the 27th infantry division. Saw his 1st action on Saipan. He also won the bronze star there. I started crying as I watched video. Thank you for doing this. He is gone now.

My dad was Navy, assigned to subs. He was on Saipan just after the battle using Japanese Marines to box up torpedoes. Dad also was going up a mountain in a jeep when he came across two Japanese soldiers. He figured they were out looking for food and they each left each other alone.

The water is absolutely beautiful there.

How did those Sherman's end up that far from shore? Were they Dual Drive like what was used in Normandy or being floated in somehow? Nice work!

I saw that picture of that tank in a book years ago, and was so fascinated by it then, im shocked it’s still intact after all these years. bravo! thanks for this.

Thank god for the greatest generation. We wouldn't have what we have today if it wasn't for them. If WW2 happened today we would all be speaking Japanese and German.

My brother just returned from a job there. It’s wonderful to see things better than his expiations.

Greta video as always. What is amazing about the Sherman tank is how well preserved is considering its in tropical waters. Guess its a testament to those men and women who built it

I am always excited for the next video to come out because literally all of the previous one's are so dang good.

Fascinating,Superb, Quality 5/5 stars 👏👏👏 Video,music and most important History !! You deserve to be among the best well known name of Documentary on the history ofWW2 era !!! BRAVO JD AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR PASSION AND KNOWLEDGE !!!

I know it is a REMOTE location,and very EXPENSIVE to get to,but TARAWA ,Kiribati would be much APPRECIATED especially from the Men of the 2nd MARINE DIVISION..I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL and so does my 11year old son,GOD BLESS YOU,STAY SAFE AND keep up the OUTSTANDING WORK...The SULLIVAN family from New York.

JD, I appreciate the time, effort, and financial that you put into this visit. As a retired Marine who knows our history IS important to the Corps,…thank you.

Seeing how that Sherman held it's shape even after all these years gave me chills and shows just how well made those machines were. Also that bunker with the Japanese tank on it was very very interesting.

Thank you so much for this series on Saipan. I visited twice in 1975-76. I spent an entire afternoon climbing on and snorkeling around the Sherman you visited. ( and also got the worst sunburn of my life, lol). There is much wreckage of landing craft that were blown up by direct mortar hits as they were making their way towards shore, that are visible beneath the surface. Regarding the Sherman, that evening I spoke with a woman who knew the story of that tank. The Sherman's engine flooded, and thre crew abandoned it and wade ashore under fire. The woman said that the sergeant that commanded the tank survived the war and spent a career as a car salesman in St. Louis Missouri. A word about wading the water on Saipan or any of the other islands there. I would encourage you to wear sneakers or reef booties, as you are walking on coral which can be very sharp, also there are conch shells of which certain ones are venomous if you step on them.

Amazing photography. Fascinating that they are still intact.

I know one of the men that left that tank there, from Lincoln park, nj, he told me he backed out to be able to shoot up in the mountains, and I can’t wait to see to this year , miss you sir Donnie bugler

Very nice overhead drone shots and respectful music. Congratulations and thank you

You got the BEST job in the world, JD!!

Such s beautiful place. Thanks for showing the present interspersed with the past battle.

My grandfather was there with D Company, 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion (an Army unit). His battalion provided armor support for the entire 4th Marine Division during the beginning stages of the battle. My grandfather went in with the first wave on D-Day and landed on Yellow Beach 1. His company was supporting 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment

I’m a Marine and it’s awesome to see our history. Thank you

Outstanding presentation!! And, thank you for visiting the PTO!!!

Love the Stingray at the bottom of the shot at 8:48.

Incredible! The Sherman is thrilling amazing.

Please keep these coming-my uncle was KIA Iwo JIma, what a way to honor these heroes by keeping alive the story of their bravery and sacrifice. I find myself almost being there with these brave men as they attack under fire.

Think how you spoke and represented this amazing history of yor brave solders. Is truly great. I do love your respect. This a top class video. Love Chrissie in 🇬🇧 ❤xx

That was an amazing video and the footage taken during the invasion was incredible. Those young American soldiers (now old or deceased) deserve the utmost respect. How strong they were (both physically and mentally) to have such perseverance. Truly heroes.

I am glad to have come across your video and channel on RU-vid! Big ups to you! I stay near the Japanese tank on Red Beach , i love the history of ww2 here on Saipan . My great grandfather was also one of the locals during that time and helped marines find faster routes inland and help with supplies. I collect ww2 relics as well and have my own small collection of live ammo, different types of ammunition from .50 cals to a live bazooka round , tank tracks , casings of artillery shells, U.S gas containers, U.S kitchen utensils all in my backyard over the years. Thank you for sharing such an informational video on a place that I live 💯 Also, Rest In Peace to all lives lost here, the construction you see there on Red beach, they found a group of 8 skeletal bodies buried together during the start of construction there.

One of thee best channels on YT period . Top Drawer ..on par with Epic History TV ..Channel ...on here.