U.S. Marines blast Japanese on Saipan with captured enemy gun.

U.S. Marines blast Japanese on Saipan with captured enemy gun. American Marines turn the fire of a captured Japanese gun on enemy positions in Garapan, the capital of Saipan and Marianas' administrative center which the Americans seized on July 4, 1944. One Marine with field glasses watches the results of the fire, while another holds his ears against the explosion. From Garapan, which was virtually leveled by U.S. bombardment, American soldiers pushed back the Japanese to the northern end of Saipan Island which is only 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from Japan and a key base in the enemy's inner defense perimeter.