five thousand five hundred men lay dead on the sands one thousand one hundred thirteen were american marines and two thousand two hundred ninety group and only one japanese officer and two enlisted men survived along with fourteen korean neighbors the entire island was a fast twisted wasteland contest struction. american and japanese bodies covering the island were a mute testimony to the ferocity of that. one marine commented that it was the closest thing to dante's inferno you'd ever seen. the show was a hellish wasteland of destruction. literally covered with thousands of bodies and ordnance. now came the grim task of collecting and buried bodies. general holland smith and the marine commander was reputed to have said later that cairo was a tragic mistake. after the battle the marines would bury their dead take detailed plot maps of the grave sites and within a matter of days return to their ships. meanwhile the burial were continued on which. identification was made more difficult by the condition in the composition of several bodies and a number were lost at sea. i fortunately had the u

they three began with an easier landing of additional marines at the western shore as the american forces began to outflank the japanese defenders that morning a chance event was taking place in the skies nearby a flight of hellcat fighter planes on routine patrol from the aircraft carrier lexington accidentally intercepted a formation of twenty japanese eat fighters based from nearby marshall islands the japanese were on a mission to bomb and strafe the tower landing force. by ten o five that morning the americans had shot down seventeen of the twenty bothers and force the remaining three back to their base the marines on base here are safe from potentially devastating casualties. meanwhile supported by reinforcements and artillery fire from nearby islands the marines used all means necessary to systematically take out the japanese defenders they slowly advance through the narrow eastern tip of the arctic. leon paid a visit to mother superior margaret sullivan of our lady of the sacred heart mission she showed in the declaration the japanese government is at it just hours after they took

foreign invasion russia's foreign ministry's alarmed by american marines approaching the country's borders from the black sea the u.s. meanwhile says it's necessary for a missile shield plan which russia poses all the dispute by logging on its heart to . europe russia and the. us could all become safer places once nato ceases to exist south as artie's military contributor in the wake of the us defense secretary's recent bleak assessment be alliances future here's a taste of the latest video blog and on line at home if european nato allies war expecting their farwell hugging and kissing from the departing u.s. secretary of defense robert gates they should have known better instead he delivered point blank parting shot at all year we're here in nato allies and it was probably one of the most blazing critique coming from the pentagon chief in fact i believe that it had a hidden agenda to use the former cia chief and his experience to deliver a black cop on its european partners as far as afghanistan and libya is concerned indeed robert gates had a point first time raise the issue about their

four in the know russia's foreign ministry is a long arm by american marines approaching the country's borders from the black sea the west meanwhile says it's necessary for a missile shield plan which russia opposes following the dispute by logging on to. the focus human. crisis and shock waves through the world's motor industry as rumors cause potential buyers to lose faith in japanese cars officials maintain that all vehicles are thoroughly checked for radiation before shipment but reports suggest that contaminated vehicles could still find their way into the market. has more. oh has been contemplating a change of hardcore for months a fan of japanese vehicles she wanted to upgrade her off roader when you were model but her car dealing friend said it was not the right time they're still here but the us could also yeah i was told privately that all new japanese cars are radioactive because of the fukushima disaster the shipment was supposedly blocked. but unofficial dealers bribe them and got those cars onto the streets but she said if i want to have leave in the future i should absta

. >> secretary of defense robert gates talked to american marines and sold yerse in kandahar.ked up as he thanked them for l service and talked to them about current security situation in afghanistan and progress that is made. earlier today he returned to kabul to meet with the top american military commander general david petraeus. number one issue while they are visiting is the proposed draw down of american troops beginning on the 1st. secretary want to see a modest draw down in afghanistan. white house and other senior lawmakers want to see a significant draw down. that is one of the issues they are debate talking about while second gates is here in afghanistan. one of the things he did say. he will keep the combat fighters and trigger pullers here to help improve security. if anyone is leaving the country over the next few months, it will be support members and also other soldiers and marines not actively engaged in the combat operations here in afghanistan. that's the issue gates and petraeus will have over with the white house. the main focus for secretary gate system t

however american naval and marine forces would soon test that place on november twentieth one thousand nine hundred three the united states launched a major and furious offensive against our. a massive naval bombardment took place starting at dawn. by nine am as wave after wave of marines were launched from the ships the logistics of the battle took a bad turn. the tide is not as deep as what they had projected it. there would be about six to seven feet above the fringing reefs that they would land and there was a lot of confusion between the naval bombardment and they were supposed to cease fire and they were supposed to play near the end aviation detachment of a bomber aircraft and fire craft to bomb the island and there was some confusion and they actually had a cease fire there was about thirty minutes when there was no firing at all and it enabled the japanese to take a lot of their soldiers from the south side of the heavily defended part and move them up to the north side of the aisle. and in doing so they were able to bring considerable devastating fire on the marines as they e

marine an american who abandoned her weapon for written words to tell a story she says is kept censored from u.s. citizens he will people may know that it affects us i don't think that they understand the weight. and the toll that it takes us and seeing if that were. the literal facts of the dead bodies that were made. jessica could dell's memoir shade it black details a tremendous and human account of war in two thousand and four good old spent eight months in iraq collecting cataloging bagging and boxing the bodies of dead marines at the mortuary affairs unit and experience no u.s. president who's declared war has ever endured if it was a result of an explosion there could be several body cases so sometimes that would require us to you know crawl under a truck or crawl in the trucks or. just as you mentioned. you know what this thing . was that you can get back to the family goodell pieced fallen soldiers back together after receiving body bags filled with limbs it's difficult to look at but you have to look at that because you have to you know put them in their respective body bags o

melaku is 22 years old, an oath yoep man american who serves in the marine reserve.s a suspected criminal, having recently been charged with breaking into cars. so far, the fbi has not linked him to any known terrorist organization. >> we do believe, at this time, that this individual acted alone. >> reporter: but law enforcement is on edge about so-called lone wolves right now. people like the ft. hood shooter, who are not known members of terror networks, but inspired by them. at first glams, melaku seems to fit the profile. >> how can we empower local law enforcement in particular to prevent a lone wolf from being successful. >> reporter: those fears have been heightened in the wake of osama bin laden's death, leaving security officials and americans on alert, wondering if the terrorist threat is heating up this summer. >> right now, al qaeda wants to be able to demonstrate that they are a force to be reckoned with. >> reporter: and in the weeks since the raid that killed bin laden, there are signs that al qaeda is more determined than ever to attack america. adam

professional, best qualified, best trained, most capable force in the world, that being an american soldier, marine, all of our personnel, and that's when we look at the numbers and not equate a newly trained afghan national security force individual to our military because obviously there's a huge difference. i come back to, as i run out of time, just that my hope is that the administration as we get to next year with that 23,000 number that if the facts on the ground are not what we hope they will be today come next year, that we don't go forward then with that draw down if the facts don't justify it. a final comment, chairman, admiral mullen, what a record of service to this nation. we, as -- i personally, my family is indebted to you and your family for your heroic service and wish you great success and in all you do. i yield back. >> mr. johnson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. the president just can't win on this one. it's going to have one side saying that you are withdrawing too many troops at a time when we need to have them stay the course, and then on the other side you're going to have folk

who's going to the c.i.a., who's been incredibly successful and who cares a lot about every american soldier and marine at risk there and why he overruled david petraeus to go with what seems to be an arbitrary date for this drawdown. >> why don't we wait to hear from general petraeus? because it's not entirely clear whether he's with the program or the extent to which he's not with the program. >> woodruff: but in terms of the politics with this, bill, some republicans-- there is john mccain-- who's saying, yes, stay a lot longer and there are republicans who are saying no, it's time to bring the troops home, let's spend this money back here in the united states. >> sure there are and/think a lot of them... some of them will say this is a reasonable decision by the president. he will get more support than we've indicated in the sense a lot of people want us to draw down and this is about as fast as he could sponszbly draw down without simply saying "we're giving up, forget about that surge i announced in december of 2009, you guys win." even though the surge has had a great deal of success. so i think

the field with the most professional, best qualified most capable force in the world, the american soldier, marine, personnel. and that's when we look at the numbers and afghan national security force individual to a military because obviously there's a huge difference. as i run out of time, i hope is the administration is to get to next year we get the 23,000 at the facts and the ground are not what we hope they will be put to jot down at the facts don't justify it. a final comment, mr. chairman is admiral mullen, what a record of service to this nation. i am my family are indebted to you and your family for your heroic service and wish you great success in all you do. thanks for what you've done for all of us. you got. >> mr. johnson. thank you, mr. chairman. the president just can't win on this one is going to have one's i've seen that you are withdrawing too many troops at a time when we need to have done stay the course. on the other side you're going to have folks they look, we're tired of war. when the troops home. osama bin laden has been neutralized. let's close the door, bring troops hom

up next on booktv, bob drury recounts the final 24 hours of the american withdrawal from vietnam on april 29, 1975. he profiles 11 marine corps security guards who oversaw the final evacuees and were the last to depart from the roof of the american embassy in saigon. this program is just under an hour. >> well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to r.j. julia. my name's john, i'm here to introduce our author for the evening. you may know that r.j. julia is now in its 21st year. we think it's an extraordinary bookstore, especially in these times. we know it's a busy world out there, so we're glad you're here. time and again we hear from customers and visitor of all kinds that it is events like these that bring authors from all points of the spectrum to this spot, to this community that make this store special. "last men out" is the book we're here to introduce. i thought i'd begin simply by saying that my daughter is in ho chi minh city now. i skypeed with her this morning. she's a recent college graduate, english major, and she is in saigon to teach english. as you might imagine, it's been an extraordinary experience f