Return to Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story

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• Directed by: Steven Barber
• Produced by: Leon Cooper

In 1943 US Navy ensign Leon Cooper was charged with protecting the lives of hundreds of US Marines in the first major US amphibious assault upon the heavily defended Japanese stronghold Tarawa, an island archipelago in the South Pacific. Sixty-six years later Leon decided to return to the scene of his first (of six) battle experience because he had learned that the remains of many Americans still lay where they fell during the battle of “Bloody Tarawa,” in unmarked graves. Academy Award nominated actor Ed Harris narrates this veteran’s emotional struggle with his past.

Red Beach, where Leon had landed his Higgins Boats with groups of Marines—a beach where he saw scores of his Marines being cut to pieces by Japanese gunfire—he learned was piled high with garbage. Finally, it was also reported to Leon that live ammunition was scattered everywhere in those densely populated islands. A camera crew follows Leon around during the week and he finds it difficult to control his emotions, by turns anger and sadness as he re-lives the horror of those three days of killing, where more than 6000 lives were lost, including 3,500 Americans who were killed or wounded. Golden Globe Winner and Academy Award nominated actor Ed Harris narrates this veteran’s emotional struggle with his past and his anger at the callous indifference of his government that has allowed this desecration, this insult to the memory of the fallen, while providing a concise history of a battle which ranks among the bloodiest in America’s history. The film’s Editor was Jay Miracle, Academy award winner for “The Making of Apocalypse Now” and honored for other screenplays.

For Mature Audiences.