American troops occupy hastily dug positions amid the cratered, rubble-strewn terrain of Kwajalein Atoll following the U.S. amphibious assault of early 1944. The battle, part of Operation Flintlock, saw intense naval and aerial bombardment reduce Japanese fortifications to ruins before ground forces secured the atoll, a key objective in the Central Pacific campaign. Photographs like this one, drawn from a personal wartime album, offer a ground-level view of the aftermath faced by the men who fought there. Project: 218539