I had 3 great Uncles that fought in the Pacific. Guiseppe (Pep) was a Seabee that ran heavy equipment in building the runways. Though the islands were deemed "secure" enough for them to repair or construct, his unit saw heavy counter-attacks throughout the war. Unfortunately, I do not know what islands he worked on positively. I think the first was Guadacanal and Henderson Field.
Uncle George was a Sergeant in the Marines and also saw heavy contact, and he would tell wild stories of fighting the Japanese in jungle warfare. In one invasion his Higgins boat was badly damaged/sinking far from shore and those that survived ditched their equipment/heavy packs, otherwise they would have drowned (as in SPR) before getting to shore. He had a Gunney Sgt. in his boat, that had pulled his KBar out and started cutting straps once the boat started sinking, those that followed his lead made it in and or were picked up after the battle by a US Submarine.
I have told the last Uncle's story in more detail in the Memorial day Forum. Uncle Jasper (Bunch), named after his grandfather who had been a Lieutenant in the Confederate Cavalry, was the youngest and didn't need to serve but wanted to be like his older brothers. In the 3rd Marine Division, he took part in the fighting on Guam, and then later his 21st Marines were called in on Iwo after heavy casualties to the 4th and 5th marine Divisions. He was killed the day following the flag raising while his company took part in the attack on the second airfield (the one still in use today).
For the comments quoted, Peleliu definitely could have have and should have been bypassed. This was admitted many years later by the Navy. same argument could be made for the Phillipines. Nimitz wanted Formosa (Taiwan), but in the long run, Roosevelt sided with MacArthur's plan, allowing him to fulfill his promise of "I shall return".
Tarawa, a success overall, but a costly experience.
Like said before, the coral reef surrounded the island over 500 yards offshore and there was a pier that ran out past it that the Japanese had manned with pillboxes. The navy had studied the tide table but there was conclusion (wrongful) that there would be enough water above the reef (5' was needed) but obviously the neap tide that happened, was not.
I saw a documentary many years ago that the tide was especially lower than normal due to a lunar anomaly that only happens like once every 40 years. This was discovered like in the 80's or 90's. Of course, it had to happen on the day of the invasion. The boats and amphibs ran aground. Marines waded thru chest deep water, 500 yards under fire, or moved to the pier and fought their way while taking heavy casualties. It would have been worse, but on the first day, while receiving the heavy Naval bombardment, the communication lines from the command bunker were cut ( they were dug shallow due to the heavy coral) and Admiral Shibazaki, while moving himself and his command staff to another location to better direct the battle, were caught in the open and killed by by a naval shell. Two days of still heavy fighting would follow, but the Japanese had no coordinated plan for counter-attacks once he was killed.
After the battle, the public was stunned by the casualties and wanted Nimitz and other commanders replaced. Roosevelt knew that costs would be high and stuck with them though. There was a Marine photography crew there with the first Marines on shore and recorded the battle. Roosevelt, knowing the cost that the war would take, had the film showed to the public so the true cost of the war and what it would take to win, and thus also help sell war bonds. The film "With the Marines at Tarawa" shows bloated, dead Marines floating along the shorelines. It's one of the few films that actually shows the enemy within yards of and being fired upon by the Marines. It's on youtube and just under 20 minutes long (worth the watch).
Others have talked about being in Normandy or in the Pacific during WWII and which would be worse.
One thing that would've made it better for the Normandy invasion, and especially at Omaha, would have been something that the Navy had and used in the Pacific. There was much rivalry and fighting for dollars between the services (Army/Navy at that time, as Marines were/still are a branch to the Navy and the Air Corps falling under the Army) back then as now, and they didn't share or lend equipment very well to the other branch. Normandy was an Army invasion and had no amphibious tracked vehicles (which had some ground support capability with heavy machine guns) which would have helped at Omaha. Out of the 20 something Sherman DD tanks that were to support and provide heavy fire support for the infantry there, only six made it ashore. The rest were swamped and lost (along with their crews) by the 6 ft + seas, having been put to to sea 6 miles out. The amphibious tracks that the navy and Marines used successfully in the Pacific could have helped in this scenario. The Army only had the use of Higgins boats and LSTs in Europe.
last thing....CSB/
Growing up in awe of my Uncles and their service, (Dad was also in the Navy) I grew up being an avid reader of WWII. Just about everything I read growing up regarded military history.
Freshman year (really ONLY yr) of college '81, we had an assignment in history class of 3 book reviews/reports for part of mid-terms. Your choice of books.
One that I did was on the invasion of Tarawa. History was easy for me and upon getting the grades back (A's on all) there was a note at the bottom of the Tarawa report. The professor had written "Great report,...by the way, I was there".
It turned out that we lived in the same neighborhood north of SA and I had other discussions with him about his service as a Marine in WWII. Besides what he wrote on my report, one thing that always stuck with me, was that he had seen a lot of combat even after Tarawa and he knew late in the war that it was just going to be the next landing or maybe the one after where he wasn't going to make it.
His division, along with others, was tasked for and sailing to Japan for the invasion when the bombs were dropped. He knew and told me, "Those bombs saved my life".