Seizing the Northern Marianas would thus redeem American honor. Also up for invasion in the same attack were Saipan’s neighbors, Tinian, and a small piece of American soil that had been violated since Pearl Harbor, the island of Guam, under Japanese occupation for three long years. Army Air Forces with a base for the huge Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers to pound Tokyo. Instead of heading for Normandy in France, this “other” invasion was headed farther, along a 10-day voyage from Hawaii and other bases to Saipan, an island 1,200 nautical miles from Tokyo, 12 miles long and 46.5 square miles in area. (Read more about the events that shaped both European and Pacific Theaters inside the pages of WWII History magazine.) The second invasion had 10 times that number: the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. soldiers and Marines and 535 ships and landing craft. By virtue of the International Date Line, the two invasions sailed on different days, but both sortied within the same 24-hour period. Another invasion also began on June 6, 1944.

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