A U.S. Marine exhibits the thousand-yard stare after two days of constant fighting in the Battle of Eniwetok, 1944.

USMC Private Theodore James Miller returns to Coast Guard-manned attack transport USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25) at 1400 Hours after two days of combat on Engebi, Marshall Islands.

Engebi was the first of the Eniwetok Atoll to be invaded by American forces. Operation “Fragile” the 1st and 2nd Battalions landed on Feb 18, 1944, with 3rd Battalion in reserve. In the attack on Engebi American losses were 78 killed, 166 wounded, and 7 missing, totaling 251 casualties. All of Engebi’s defenders were killed, except for nineteen prisoners taken.

Theodore James Miller himself died in action during the invasion of the Eban Atoll a month after the photo, March 24, 1944. In that battle, 25 Japanese, including six civilians, involved a 20 shooting. minutes he left Miller and another Marine dead along with 8 others injured.

A newspaper stated the following about his death:

“Private Theodore James Miller was killed March 24 in capture of Ebon atoll, Marshall islands, his parents learned Monday. Miller was standing in the middle of a narrow clearing calling for a corpsman to help a wounded buddy when he was hit by a sniper’s bullet.”

He is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii.