I found this picture in an Imgur album, and tracked down photo credits at Retronaut:

“Marine First Sergeant Neil I. Shober of Fort Wayne, Indiana, shares the spoils of war bananas with a native goat, one of the few survivors of the terrific naval and air bombardment in support of the Marines hitting the beach on the Japanese-mandated island of Saipan.” – National Museum of the Pacific War

Saipan is a 12-mile-by-5.6-mile island in the Northern Marianas Islands. From June 15 to July 9, 1944, the U.S. fought to take control of the island from Japan, which had held it since 1914. 71,000 American troops met 31,000 Japanese. The U.S. suffered 3,426 killed and about 13,000 wounded. It was the most costly battle of the Pacific War up to that point for the U.S.

Of the 31,000 Japanese soldiers, only 921 were taken prisoner. The rest were either killed in action or committed suicide. Out of a civilian population of around 25,000 people, an estimated 22,000 died. Many of them committed suicide, allegedly with the encouragement of the emperor, who promised them “an equal spiritual status in the afterlife with those of soldiers perishing in combat,” according to a Wikipedia article citing a book by David Bergamini.

But this goat survived, and got some bananas. Whether this scene is more cute or horrific is up to each of us, I guess, but war is hell.

Photo credit: National Museum of the Pacific War.