Tinian Island: WWII's Busiest Airfield Comes Back to Life in 2024

[@reddirtoverland]

As a Marine in 1984 my unit spent 6 weeks on the island clearing it of unexploded munitions from WWII. It was an awesome experience. Would love to go back some day.

[@johnmoe3781]

My grandfather was a SeaBee and helped build the airfields on Tinian. I wish he was still with us to see this.

[@markdavidson1049]

He’s watching from above.

[@tonyangelias6808]

Hey Bro, I’m thankful that your family has served our nation in uniform! USAF Veteran

[@Forevertrue]

Ia m sure your are proud of him and should be.

[@johngaither9263]

My dad was a B-29 Navigator. He spent several months on Tinian at the end of the war. He said the local ragweed pollen came closer to killing him than did his B-29 or the Japanese.

[@TheWorldsOkayestUSMarine]

Thank GOD Japan is on our side this time around.

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

Feeling very Okay about that

[@TheWorldsOkayestUSMarine]

@@MrCantStopTheRobot That'd be crazy if they did a 180° and allied with China. We'd have a serious issue lol

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

@@TheWorldsOkayestUSMarine that would be straight up Not Okay territory

[@carlhicksjr8401]

Well, I wouldn't want to put the rent money on trying to land troops in China.... We just tried that shit in Afghanistan [the other sinkhole that wrecks military reputations] and that didn't turn out well. As for Japan, they've had a hard-on about China since Kublai Khan, so they're a natural ally in all this.

[@jrk9679]

Japan of today is nowhere near as fierce and viscous as the Japan of ww2 era.

[@turkey0165]

I am so proud of these combat engineers and naval see bees in the restoration of these WW2 military airfields and bases! These men are the finest ! Thanks for the updated video!

[@dannysturgill1617]

My grandfather was stationed here in ww2 have several pictures this is awesome they are rejuvenating this amazing airfield

[@justinmurphy7593]

But for the reasons they are 😮

[@kathyjohnson430]

So was mine; he was a cryptographer in the 504th and also took photos.

[@roberthill935]

I met a guy in my hometown. He was a senior living center. During the war he was stationed there. He saw the plan with first bomb and knew the crew.

[@NAMCBEO]

My Stepdad was a Seabee on Tinian from after capture action to draw down and was then sent to Iwo Jima . I was a Seabee in Nam, Guam and Okinawa 68-70. I'm retired now and worn out now but, wish I could volunteer for this worth while project. - - - We should never forget the history, to do so, is to make the same mistakes again !

[@jeremycortese]

Tinian is beautiful. Saipan is just as gorgeous. Hard to think these places were heavy in combat years ago.

[@jfinchPC12]

I spent time in the Marianas Islands in the "80s. The Chamoro people that I met were some of the kindest, welcoming people that I have had the pleasure of meeting. One thing that I noticed is that there were very few old people. They had been decimated by the Japanese taking the Islands and the US taking them back. The Spanish had been there since the 16th century.

[@carolynraffl8271]

Us Marines fought and died when they invaded Tinian Island in 1944. Then 100,000 Navy Seabees built the runways. Today, the US Air Force stands proud of their accomplishment.

[@karlbrundage7472]

My Father was a USN Hospital Corpsman who did two tours in Viet Nam. His final duty station was with the SeaBee Battalion at Gulfport, MS....... in 1969, when Hurricane Camille hit. My earliest recollections involved huddling in the base dispensary with the other Navy families as the storm raged outside. Meanwhile, my Dad and the heroic SeaBees went out into the teeth of the storm in their AMTRACs to rescue survivors, treat the injured and clear the roads for other emergency rescue personnel and equipment to flow in. Those men should have had an award struck for them.

[@DATBAYOUBOY504]

My mother's uncle was one of many gunners aboard the Uss Indianapolis that delivered it to the Tinian Islands. They were sank by a Japanese torpedo on their way back after making the delivery, and he was 1 who survived after floating in the ocean, for I think about a week. I never had the chance to meet him, he passed in the 70s, unfortunately I was born in 82'. I wish I could have 10 minutes with him to talk about that day. Rip Uncle Benny

[@DennisLaBlue]

This is what makes America Great

[@MichaelD.Zeiler]

Prudent, assertive & crucial step in the right direction! Semper Fi!

[@MH5XXXX]

my first active duty base was ANDERSEN AFB. I LOVED the island even with the typhoons.

[@Con-Doe]

Stanley Crouse, Jr. served on Tinian and had photos of Col Tibbets and all of the airfield actions RIP Stan

[@stevepette]

In 1981, I was on Tinian as part of the USMC 9th engineer support battalion!!! We did some rebuilding of the runways at that time.

[@kty1245]

Same goes for us. Thank god the US is an ally this time. The absolute majority of Japanese favor aligning with the US than China, not just because of our 70 year long alliance, but because we relate ourselves closer to Amercan values.

[@carlhicksjr8401]

Back in Y2K it was obvious to anybody who could read a map that China was gonna be The Next Big Thing. Truth be told, I believe that the GWOT was a side show comparatively. I mean no disrespect to those people who sacrificed so much during that war. Some of you have more combat time than a Marine who was on duty on 07 Dec. It's hard not to respect that. But China isn't a mad mullah doing youtube videos. They are an entirely larger, more prevalent, and FAR more sophisticated threat. And the fact that the US and our allies are already planning on dispersing air assets to smaller, more mobile operational bases should be a great big warning to everyone that the game has changed. And if we 'go' on the PRC, it'll be for all the marbles. We have changed from 'satellites and snakeeaters' back to Cold War style heavy mechanized operations, and added the additional headaches of drones, cyberwarfare, and memetic warfare [the use of public opinion as a weapon]. And the PRC's Ministry of State Security is every bit as good as the KGB ever was.

[@scm24]

Just like Peleliu...history kinda/sorta repeats itself....

[@chrismitchell4622]

Great work USA

[@PDLM1221]

You would of been working with what in my time in the USAF CES squadron love you guys nice work!

[@BrendanTripp]

It's cool to see these pics of Tinian, as I understand that my dad (James Edward Tripp) was stationed there at the end of the war (he died when I was 2, so the info I have is sketchy at best), after having been a pilot in India and China for most of the war.

[@tb7771]

US veteran here, I am proud to say my Uncle was there as a SP/MP during WW2. He saw the Enola Gay before she took off.

[@stephengamber7000]

100,000 Seabeas to build it all! WOW!

[@GThomas-q1e]

This have anything to do with Taiwan?

[@marine102192]

Duh and or hello

[@NV555_82nd]

It has everything to do with it.

[@milsurprifleguy7091]

A family friend of my in - laws was. Seabee at Tinian in WWII . I have a few black & white photos of it , both ground & aerial views . I also have his patches , ribbons & medals

[@workonesabs]

This is awesome to see, coming back to life and not only that restored for future generations.

[@DennisFranklin-f1s]

My Father James Lee Franklin served here during WWII as a longshoreman unloading ships. He made TEC5 before discharge

[@BruceBergman]

Fix it up and put a small garrison to secure it. Let tourists visit the bases. 3:43

[@anthonyesparsen7776]

It's always better to be ready for whatever may come !

[@kurttate9446]

If you would have peace, then prepare for war. Old Roman proverb.

[@wolverineeagle]

My grandfather was stationed on Guam and Tinian while in the Marines in 1945.

[@Delta-b9z]

Nice report!

[@KenSmith-bv4si]

USAF Red Horse. I'm a Phantom Phixer we had Red Horse at Kadena and Kunsan. At Kusan I saw them practice laying emergency runways while out at the run up pad.

[@Hanzothedach1323]

Scary times we live in. An old airfield being rebuilt in preparation for future war. I know that it is better to be prepared than to be surprised by your enemy. God Help us all.

[@cbjork29]

HOORAH SEABEES!!!!

[@BuzzSargent]

Dirt Boy's Dream...it sure is. Serious work, but the big Cats and all that equipment would be a blast to use. Happy Trails

[@jfinchPC12]

I was on a small merchant ship that called on Tinian in '87. There was only a small contingent of Marines stationed there at that time.

[@RichardDrake-jc4zv]

Was there in early 80's training. Enjoyed all the ww2 history just laying around,but we mostly blew it up.

[@mikebright3732]

Why rebuilding? Let me guess, China's large naval fleet and the nine dash line along with the Spratly island base.

[@4catsnow]

Chase gunmen with small arms and explosives around the desert for 20 years, and now we want to go toe to toe with a a real deal military?? yeah, be sure to let us know how THAT works out.....Anybody remember these guy's taking MacArthur out for a walk in 1950???

[@colincampbell767]

@@4catsnow The GWOT was just a sideshow. Every unit that went to Iraq or Afghanistan had to be retrained for low-intensity operations. And people like you will keep talking smack until the next war happens and it turns out that your trash talk was just hot air. Maybe if you had ever served, you'd understand.

[@4catsnow]

@@colincampbell767 We signed out at the admin building on main post at Ft Benning in '70..6 of us lined up at a table with a warrant officer handing out discharge paperwork...guy at the head of the line was 1st Air Cav..got his documents ,, turned around to us and said.."holy shit...we're still breathin'...but you John Wayne types were never far, or few...and a lot of them found that wall..

[@colincampbell767]

@@4catsnow Nope. I was in a different army than the one you were in. I joined in 1981 spent 6 years active duty and the joined the National Guard. (I discovered that I liked being a soldier a lot more when it wasn't what I did for a living.') My experience was completely different from yours. Yours was an army of draftees - mine was an army of volunteers. And not just any volunteers - an army that 70% of Americans aged 18-24 could not qualify to enlist in. Look at it this way - you served for two years and in the army I served in, two years was what it took before a soldier was considered to be fully trained at 'Skill level 1.'

[@byron8657]

The Asian NATO is born spearheaded by US Japan South Korea and the Philippines. Mabuhay ang Sambayanang Pilipino saang mang dako ng mundo k!

[@TheVineOfChristLives]

Please take back Subic and Clark too!

[@NV555_82nd]

The people and government of the Philippines turned their back on the US.

[@NickB-yq7ng]

Won’t be complete til they construct a full BX complex featuring Burger King & Pizza Hut 🤣

[@2AToday]

Japan really needs to get their act together and undertake a ww2-scale military buildup. Their forces are tiny and weak. Their personnel get paid half, on average, as an equivalent US serviceman doing the same job. That absolutely wrecks recruitment; it’s not a financially viable job. They need to be outspending mainland china on defense, and buildup something like 1 million active personnel within the next few years. China’s revenge on them is at hand, they need to act like it. And we in the US can’t do it alone.

[@4catsnow]

After what Japan did to them during the war..China may be looking for an excuse...As far as the US goes..these guys took MacArthur out for a ride in 1950..and nowadays.make no mistake... they ain't gunmen in the desert with small arms and explosives..

[@MM22966]

Japan has a large & modern navy (3rd largest in the Pacific) and a excellent air force. Their GROUND forces are tiny.

[@davewelder5432]

I have a question how long are the runways and how big and what type of aircraft can use them

[@dennisstender1743]

Navy Seabees " We Build We Fight"

[@georgethompson5459]

I was with the 7th Engineers Battalion out of Okinawa and we went to Tinian in 82-83 time frame to rebuild some of the roads, back then the jungle was over grown and at night the runways would be covered with crabs coming out of the jungle.

[@hardmettla]

Would love to know what that Island really originally looked like originally..

[@slowstang88]

I just saw a REDHORSE cap! Couldn't tell which squadron, I was 819RHS from 2000-2004

[@davidfoster8172]

wait a minute, 100,000 seebeas?????

[@nickskalkos7169]

They should restore Adak Island also.

[@chetmcdonald]

Absolutely. The State thats the closest to Russia has no Navy Base. Think about it.

[@rayc.557]

I had relatives at Tinian who helped load the bomb to end the WW2.

[@richardmaier28]

At 4:07 those would be the plugs to complete the circuit.

[@Mooserjr0u812]

Seabees Can Do...should have put more kudos on all the Seabees involved during the restoration

[@steveahkeah9363]

I got to go to Tinian back in the mid late 1980's as we did some training there. Got to see the invasion beaches, the old shot up Japanese bunkers. We also found a lot of old ordinance, which we left alone. Anyways, the 2 Atomic Bomb Pits shown did not have those covers on them during that time. Remember sleeping in the boonies there and they sure had some big rats!

[@godncountry8323]

My grandfather never talked much about his service in the war. A month before he died, he opened up. He was on the atomic bomb mission over Nagasaki. He said that he hoped we wouldn’t have to fight China. He felt that they would give us as much or worse of a fight than the Japanese!!!!

[@quinby123]

The reason they're doing this is to counter the chicoms.

[@1911Earthling]

We like our island aircraft carriers.

[@alriciab.p.7936]

Let's roll...

[@rapcom-x3m]

Yeah..Rock and Roll…a thing the Chinese dont know.

[@chetmcdonald]

My great uncle was on the first navy ship to show up on Nagasaki Bay to assess the damage after the A-Bomb was dropped. He has original pictures of the devastation of the bomb.

[@Happy32153]

Some things are too expensive to maintain for preservation only. If they built it they intend to use it. I’ll let you figure that out.

[@fractalmadness9253]

They could leave some of the vegetation for camouflage.

[@ligaya.concepcion2586]

God bless 🙏

[@SettledBatches]

The base from which the US delivered the most humane ending to WWII; it took two nukes before Hirohito decided that enough of his subjects had died. And (per Richard Frank) the fear that he was next. Japan has never owned WWII, which the Japanese must.

[@kathyjohnson430]

I visited Hiroshima a few years ago. They emphasized that "Cities Are Not Targets" (even though they were planning to invade the US west coast and they kept POWs nearby so we would attack somewhere else) and emphasized the children killed (the ones who were taken out school and placed in areas they thought were vulnerable to attack to clear combustibles) but no mention of their unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor.

[@SettledBatches]

@@kathyjohnson430 Had a monograph (still on the shelves with other WWII papers) where a successful Japanese businessman claimed that the Bataan death march was just a lack of Japanese trucks. He was serious; that's what he had been taught.

[@normplatt7549]

Salute!

[@angelodontampus7750]

semper fe!!!..

[@tomdelvetto9906]

The6 better not tear down some of those old buildings

[@jonisyoutubechannel]

✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻🇺🇸🇵🇭

[@mikezacher]

I was there the day the barracks in beirut got blown up in 1983. US Marine Reconnaissance. Was with the army special forces. training

[@richardmaier28]

Was the code name for the package on the Indy "Bronx?" If the name Bronx bombers was before '45 it fits or on the other hand it might have been intentional, should have had comms not totally restricted at that point, could have made a hundred excuses for it's transit back.

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

I'd be metal detecting the areas where people were, all kinds of stuff to find.

[@foobar3]

oh shit...

[@mediamagikgroup]

If people really pay close attention to some of the videos I post, you get a good idea of what we are preparing for. :-)

[@inshallamiami]

@@mediamagikgroupok , ya making me nervous....

[@mediamagikgroup]

No need to be nervous, just informed and prepared.

[@Joesolo13]

@@inshallamiami More likely than not, cold war II at most, but they didn't purse that by sitting on their Thumbs. China's building a carrier fleet, the US would be beyond foolish not to restore Pacific Air fields, just in case.

[@Ripper13F1V]

REDHORSE!!!

[@DKK]

Looks like it still needs a lot of work, don’t pat yourselves on the back too fast

[@dennisschoenaurer4152]

Everything that goes on in the United States is expensive Blame your own damn government

[@dknowles60]

also very costly to Fly to

[@MinhNguyen-cn8kx]

Fantastico tinian..... Respect from Vietnam... Allahu akhbar.

[@sakakisak5413]

From Vietnam saying allahu Akbar? That's so rare 😅

[@Bloodgod40]

A surprising amount of people apparently learned about the existence of this island and its role in the A-bomb by way of _Jaws._

[@wanchaisangumpai6674]

❤❤ good morning to day USA okay yes good ❤

[@ryansheppard21]

Why are there subtitles? I cannot pay attention to the pictures. I find myself concentrating of the text.

[@Marco-xy7nd]

Yeah, I can also only chew gum or walk, but not at the same time.

[@retiredlogman]

Those with a hearing impairment often times need the close captioning. You may some day.

[@jamesvenables6202]

I hope they keep at least one of the original runways in its current condition. Obviously, the original coral based runways will not support the weight of today's transport aircraft, so they will have to be excavated, foundations redone and re-sealed with modern concrete and/or asphalt. They claim to be "preserving" the historical runways, which hardly seems possible given the objective of having a modern air base on Tinian, but let's hope some of the history is genuinely preserved.

[@mnblkjh6757]

🇦🇺🇯🇵🇰🇷🇬🇧🇺🇸👍🙂

[@MikeMarley-r9s]

Look out China.

[@barriewhiteley1692]

Why

[@sulevisydanmaa9981]

The soundtrack 200% off-course

[@rileyuktv6426]

And within striking distance of China…

[@MJGUNZZZ]

EXACTLY WHY ALL OF SUDDEN DO WE CARE ABOUT THE ISLAND

[@boogiebok2902]

Great vanguard in the pacific

[@edl617]

An the Chinese communist went nuts

[@marcjones4465]

To the Horse!

[@Walkercolt1]

You got the WRONG ISLAND! Saipan was the busiest US Pacific airport BY FAR with over 241,000 sorties per WEEK. ONLY the 356th Bomb Group (Precision Daylight aka: "Egg Heads" atomic bombers) operated from Tinian, a TOTAL of 306 aircraft. You want their SERIAL NUMBERS? I have them. The 356th did MORE DESTRUCTION of precision targets than all the other 1100+ B-29's did. Want Sasebo Naval Base gone? Call the 356th.

[@tauseeqahmadkhan4876]

On Japan island only America flag no Japanese flag

[@kman0146]

My Father was in the aviation engineers, he helped build the runways in WWII.

[@1911Earthling]

Dirt.

[@marklucas6114]

The poor hardworking Americans deserve to have their lives saved by our military leaders. They have the experience and knowledge on how to protect the our country from world leaders that believe they can take over the world. These leaders will never understand just how powerful our military truly is.

[@maxwellcrazycat9204]

Makes sense to do this with China building artificial islands for military use.

[@amend5269]

My question is why if another country wanted to do that it would be a problem.stay out of asia.

[@billakers6082]

My dad was station there when the Enola Gay was launched against Japan.

[@edwardtumbaking2189]

America is ready for any eventuality

[@RalphIvanDelaTonga]

Looking at the birth place of the Manhattan is a bad omen

[@MyBelch]

USAF wasn't born until Sept. 18, 1947. It was the Army Air Corps until then.

[@kenvandevoort7820]

Sorry, but the Army Air Corps ended on June 20, 1941 when the Army Air Force was born.

[@NV555_82nd]

Some clowns think they know everything. USAAF

[@NIZHAMELBA-j2w]

Next Tarawa Island Tobe The Important US Defense Strategic Bases For 21 Century

[@TheLAGopher]

The Marines have just restored the airfield on Peleliu to active service as a expeditionary runway. It's been named "Sledge Runway" after USMC Private First Class Eugene Sledge,who fought on Peleliu and Okinawa with the 1st Marine Division and wrote one of the most famous personal accounts of WW2 Pacific theater combat,"With The Old Breed"