While a Captain in the Marine Corps (of the photographic section), he and his unit filmed the Battle of Tarawa. It was the first time in the history of amphibious warfare that photographers had landed to take a beachhead with the initial assault waves. The battle was one of the bloodiest in Marine history - - three days of fighting cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties. Over 4,500 Japanese were killed. The carnage Captain Hayward saw would lead to depression and a complete physical collapse.