On this day in 1943, U.S. troops stormed the Japanese-held Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. The bloody, 76-hour Battle of Tarawa is remembered as the first major American offensive in the central Pacific. For the full story, watch this clip from The Pacific War in Color: Island Hopping. | Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation

An archaeological team tracing the movement of the 333rd infantry division during the final days of World War II, stumble on a startling and exciting discovery: a piece of rusted metal that may have come from a Howitzer M1. 🎥WWII By Drone | Smithsonian Channel Aviation Nation