_Moving on the double, Marines go yard by yard through skeletal
Garapan, flushing out the Japanese defenders._]
[Illustration: _Amidst the horrors of war, someone retained a sense of
humor, and put up this pre-World War II Marine recruiting poster in
Garapan._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 87109
]
The corps front now ran from Garapan, past the four pimples, to the 4th
Marine Division’s left boundary. Here, it ran sharply northward to
Hill 700. From there it ran to the east coast. Central Saipan was in
American hands. Most of the replenishment supplies had been unloaded.
The enemy had begun withdrawing to his preplanned final defensive
lines. The Army’s official history summed up these days’ costly
victories this way, “The battle for central Saipan can be said to have
come to a successful end.”
[Illustration: SAIPAN