Emphasis Preaching Journal

In his book, Flags of our Fathers, James Bradley told how General Holland M. (Howlin' Mad) Smith saw an unforgettable example of Marine valor when he surveyed the island of Tarawa after it was taken from the Japanese by American forces. Tarawa was one of the first American amphibious assault victories in the Pacific in World War II. Smith saw a Marine, leaning in death against a seawall, one arm still thrust upward. Just beyond his upraised hand, on top of the seawall, hung a blue-and-white flag, a beach marker to tell succeeding waves of troops where to land.