The Winds of War

by T. Trolley

Sixty years ago, thousands of U.S. Marines, nurses and a handful of sailors
began landing on the Pacific equatorial island chain of Tarawa.

Tarawa was a chain of islands with a heavily defended southwest tip, the isle
of Betio. Known to Marines as "Bloody Betio," the island was bristling with
naval guns, mortars, machine guns, and 5,000 crack Japanese marines -- as well
as nurses to attend to the wounded.

The first wave of American landings, loaded onto amphibious tractors, began
moving toward a cove on Betio. Striking coral, they ground forward toward the
beach. Once in the cove, the Marines found themselves under fire from three
sides. Many of the amtracs erupted into balls of fire when their fuel tanks were
hit. Others spun wildly out of control after their drivers were killed.

The second waves struck adjacent beaches in landing craft. The craft ran
aground on the reefs and the leathernecks scrambled down the ramps and over the
sides. Wading hundreds of yards across razor-sharp coral toward the burning
shoreline, the Marine ranks were shot to pieces. Some of the young men, weighed
down with equipment, stepped into deep holes and drowned.

Of the first wave, only 30 percent got ashore.

The second wave moved beneath a 500-foot-long pier, where their losses
mounted. The third wave was nearly annihilated. Fourth and fifth waves were badly
mauled. Those who survived the trek to the beach were often wounded, exhausted,
weaponless and separated from their units.

The Marines inched forward. Losses soared. By nightfall some 3,000 Americans
had a tenuous foothold on the beach. A few had reached the edge of the
airstrip. Another 1,500 were either dead or wounded. The following day, the Marines
broke out of their beachheads and moved inland and brought nurses with them to
tend to the many wounded. Initial objectives were seized, landing parties
linked up with one another, and counterattacks were beaten back.

Officers leading the way were specifically targeted by the enemy and killed.
Some lived and became the stuff of legends.

But they weren't the only legends to be created during that battle. And not
all of the legends were made up of male soldiers.

On the night of the 22nd, the Japanese launched two suicidal "Banzai"
charges. Screaming "Marines You Die!," the enemy penetrated the American lines and
the fighting went hand-to-hand.

The fighting was vicious and close quarter. The Japanese threw their entire
force into the fray -- including nurses that accompanied them onto the island.
Since American nurses were also on the island, the most rare of all
occurrences in war took place -- females locked in hand-to-hand combat, weaponless, 
with each other -- to the death as they were forced to do just the opposite of
what they were trained to do, take lives with their bare hands rather than save
them!

Both sides were normally careful to keep their women out of harm's way, but
this pitched battle forced everyone into combat. This meant Asaka, a young
Japanese college student who was on the island as a nurse, ended up assaulting the
American lines with the rest of her countrymen -- and ran into Sue, a college
student herself who was on the island as an American nurse.

Neither Asaka nor Sue had much hand-to-hand combat training. But in the
do-or-die winds of war, both women knew what they had to do. So when the two spied
and went at each other during this close-quarters life and death struggle, it
became a rare display of female strength vs. female strength in war time where
the stronger woman would survive and the weaker woman would perish at the
hands of her adversary!

And indeed -- only the stronger woman would survive!

The two tackled each other and began to roll around on the ground in the
midst of the pitch battle. Asaka was a beautiful woman with medium-length dark
hair and was in her early 20s while Sue was just 18 and had short black hair. Sue
was 5-5 and weighed 117 pounds while Asaka was 5-6 and weighed just over 120.
Thus, Asaka had a small size advantage and used it to sit atop Sue!

Sue frantically fought and kicked from the bottom in fear as an equally
frightened Asaka grabbed Sue's thin, soft throat with her left hand and came down
with two hard karate chops to where Sue's collarbone intersected with her neck!
Sue shrieked in pain and fear and kicked her legs straight out as the blows,
which were meant to break her neck and incapacitate her, met their mark but
not without enough force to end her life or knock her out!

Sue quickly pushed Asaka over and got atop her! Both girls had never expected
that they would end up in a fight with another woman for their very lives and
thus both women were horrified at what might happen to them if they came out
on the wrong end of the fight. If their opponent got the advantage over them
for a split second, they could end up dying for their coutry -- something
neither one of them wanted to do!

Sue, being left handed, desperately slapped at Asaka's face with her left
hand! The slap caught the pretty Japanese girl flush in the face and caused her
to shriek in pain and fear! Asaka then grabbed for Sue's wrists just as Sue
grabbed for hers in an attempt to pin her to the ground and choke her!

Both women ended up grabbing each other by the hands, and thus the primitive
battle for position pitting strength against strength was enjoined!

Asaka was able to slowly roll the smaller Sue over to her back! Before Sue
knew it, Asaka was sitting atop her and quickly put her knees on Sue's arms to
pin her to the ground! Without hesitation, Asaka grabbed Sue's head with both
hands and began to smash the back of the pretty American nurse's skull against
the ground! Sue squealed in pain and fear as she desperately tried to pull her
arms out from beneath Asaka's knees!

Asaka hit Sue's head against the ground three times before Sue could free her
arms from under Asaka's legs! She then grabbed Asaka by the wrists to keep
Asaka from bashing her head against the ground! At the same time, Sue
instinctively brought her legs up and managed to pull Asaka off her with them!

The two girls then desperately grovelled on the ground with each other,
rolling around and around -- grunting and crying and squealing and squeaking in
fear, horror and pain as they struggled in this unarmed fight to the death!

Both girls suddenly grabbed each other by the throat with both hands as they
got into a kneeling position! Asaka closed her eyes and winced, slowly moving
her tongue out of her mouth as fear was all over her face as she felt the
strength of the little American nurse's grasp choke her with her bare hands!
Meanwhile, Sue's eyes narrowed as she had a look of alarm and fear while she felt
the death-dealing grip of Asaka crush her windpipe!

Both women fell on their sides, each refusing to give up their deadly choke
holds on each other! Suddenly, Sue quickly rolled atop Asaka and pulled out of
Asaka's deadly grasp while maintaining her own around Asaka's throat! Asaka
desperately grabbed Sue by the wrists in an attempt to pull her small little
choking fingers from around her throat while she brought up her right leg in an
attempt to pull her off! But Sue leaned down on Asaka and avoided Asaka's
attempt to pull her off while putting her weight into the strangle hold around
Asaka's throat!

Asaka frantically kicked out her legs as her mouth opened in fear as Sue
leaned into her and choked her, sternly looking into her opponent's eyes as she
squeezed Asaka's soft throat!

Asaka continued to kick her legs straight out in sheer desperation and horror
as Sue strangled her! Asaka's mouth was wide open now due to lack of air and
she had a look of terror in her face as she realized the smaller American girl
was bound and determined to take her life on the field of battle!

Asaka continued to try to pull Sue's strong hands from her soft throat as she
desperately yanked at Sue's wrists, but she couldn't pry them loose! Sue then
began to beat the back of the pretty Japanese student's head against the
ground in hopes of knocking her out while she choked the life out of her! Asaka
began to sob as Sue slowly choked the life out of her and began to dominate her!

Suddenly, Sue went for the kill! She had dazed Asaka by knocking her head on
the back of the ground several times. Now she leaned into Asaka's throat with
all her weight and squeezed Asaka's soft throat with all her might, literally
wringing her neck!

Asaka's pretty legs suddenly froze two inches off of the ground and began to
tremble as a loud gasp came out of her mouth! A look of sheer horror crossed
the attractive Japanese girl's face as she looked into the face of an almost
maniacal Sue, bound and determined to end the life of the Japanese woman! Asaka
feebly pushed at the chin of Sue, desperately trying to push her off! But Sue
maintained her position atop Asaka and pushed into her throat even harder and
more firmly with her bare hands!

Asaka froze in position and trembled for several seconds -- then finally
completely collapsed! Sue looked into Asaka's eyes, which now had an eery faraway
look in them. She continued to choke Asaka, even though she had gone limp and
was offering no resistance!

Finally, Sue realized she had indeed killed Asaka with her bare hands! Asaka
had died with her eyes open and a horrified death gaze was frozen on her face!


A crazed, frightened Sue continued to squeeze the throat of her slightly
larger Japanese foe until she was certain the Japanese coed was indeed dead,
strangled to death by her hand!

The Law of the Jungle had played out: The strongest woman had survived!

Sue finally relaxed her grasp around the dead Asaka's throat.  By that time,
the tide had turned in favor of the Americans. Sue had won the most important
fight she had ever been in and would ever be in. She needed a little time to
regain her composure before she returned to why she was on the island in the
first place -- her activities as a nurse.