Tinian
There isn't that much to see on the island, but the vast airfield and extra-long runway "Able", as well as the atomic bomb pits, from which the two bombs were winched into the planes' bomb bays, are still there. Other than that, there are various minor war relics and a "suicide cliff". The latter is a smaller scale equivalent of what happened on
Okinawa: namely, that many Japanese preferred to hurl themselves off cliffs or blow themselves up with hand grenades than risk being captured.
Getting to the island isn't exactly a breeze. There are a few air and ferry connections to nearby Saipan, which itself is served by Japan Airlines from
Japan (
Tokyo or Osaka), or by a couple of US airlines from yet another island: Guam, which is in turn served by airlines connecting it to
Hawaii or
Japan. All of these other islands have their own
WWII-related sites, so this kind of island-hopping is really only something for those heavily into
Pacific War tourism. If you're only interested in Tinian, then the hassle is disproportionate.
Accommodation options on the island are sparse, but the Tinian Casino and Hotel that Thompson presumed would go out of business still seems to be there (TripAdvisor reviews include 2012 ones).
Location: part of the Northern Mariana islands in the Micronesia part of the
Pacific, ca. 125 miles (200 km) north of Guam, 1600 miles (2600 km) east of the
Philippines, 1500 miles (2400 km) south of
Japan, and a whopping 3800 miles (6100 km) west of
Hawaii.