Two months after losing more than 1,000 Marines at Tarawa, the U.S. military hit Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The assault on Jan. 31, 1944, would prove the Americans had learned from their mistakes. The 4th Marine Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division landed on several islands within the atoll. Four days later, they had killed more than 8,000 Japanese defenders at a cost of 372 American dead. Four Marines had earned the Medal of Honor. The victory helped expedite the drive