Battle of Iwo Jima 1945

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Iwo Jima, Battle of (1945).When the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed the Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. Chester Nimitz, to occupy an island in the Bonin volcano group during the western Pacific campaign in World War II, the only island of significance was Iwo Jima. Early in 1945, Japanese fighter aircraft from there were harassing the B‐29s, which had begun their raids from the Marianas against Japan. Also, an emergency recovery airfield was needed for B‐29s returning damaged or short on fuel.

Mt. Suribachi, at 556 feet, is the most prominent landmark of the seven‐mile long, pork chop–shaped island, where Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi had 21,000 men and 1,000 guns. Forsaking the Japan doctrine of defending at the water's edge, he decided instead to defend from an elaborate system of caves and tunnels.

On the American side, Vice Adm. Richmond K. Turner commanded the Joint Expeditionary Force with Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith as commander of the Joint Expeditionary Troops, while Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt commanded the Marine V Amphibious Corps, consisting of the 3rd ( Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine), 4th ( Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates), and 5th ( Maj. Gen. Keller E. Rockey) Marine Divisions. At 0930 on 19 February 1945, the first wave of armored amphibian tractors touched down, 5th Division on the left and 4th Division on the right. On the left, the 28th Marines, an infantry regiment, turned south toward Suribachi, and after four days of fighting gained the top of the mountain. A patrol reached the crest and tied a small American flag to a piece of pipe. Three hours later, a larger flag was brought up—one that could be seen from all over the island. Joe Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer, took a picture of its raising that was published around the world.

The main effort was a slow advance to the north, with the 5th Division on the left and the 4th Division on the right. The 3rd Division was fed into the center of the line and the attack shouldered forward. After days of heavy fighting, the island was secured on 26 March. Altogether, 71,245 Marines had been put ashore; of these, 5,931 were killed in action, and 17,372 wounded. Twenty‐two Marines, four navy hospital corpsmen, and one navy landing craft commander were awarded the Medal of Honor, half of them posthumous awards. The number of Japanese killed has never been determined exactly, but only 216 prisoners were taken, most of them Korean conscript laborers. The terrible cost to Americans was somewhat balanced by another statistic: by war's end, 2,251 heavy bombers, with crews totaling 24,761, had made emergency landings on Iwo.
[See also Awards, Decorations, and Honors; World War II, U.S. Air Operations in: The Air War Against Japan; World War II, U.S. Naval Operations in: The Pacific.]

Bibliography

Joseph H. Alexander , Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, 1995.
George C. Garand and and Truman R. Strobridge , History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Vol. IV, Western Pacific Operations, 1971.

Benis M. Frank

Iwo Jima, Battle of (1945).Located 670 miles southeast of Tokyo and vital to Japan's defense, Iwo Jima became strategically important in the latter stages of the Pacific phase of World War II. Dominated by Mount Suribachi, Iwo was defended by Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's 21,000 men and a thousand heavy guns. Foresaking Japan's usual tactics of defending at the water's edge, Kuribayashi decided instead to defend from an elaborate system of tunnels and caves dug into Iwo itself.

Assigned to capture Iwo was Marine Major General Harry Schmidt's Fifth Amphibious Corps (Third, Fourth, and Fifth Marine Divisions), comprising more than 80,000 men. At 9:30 A.M on 19 February 1945, after ten weeks of continuous bombing, the first wave of armored amphibian tractors touched down on the island's black volcanic sand beaches. The capture of Suribachi on 23 February was immortalized by the Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the flag‐raising on its heights.

Fierce and bloody fighting continued until 26 March, during which 5,931 Marines and navy hospital corpsmen were killed in action, and 17,372 wounded. For their heroism, twenty‐two Marines, four navy corpsman, and one navy landing‐craft commander were awarded the Medal of Honor, half of them posthumously. Japanese losses have never been determined exactly, but only 216 prisoners were taken, most of them Korean conscript laborers. The terrible cost to Americans was somewhat balanced by another statistic: By the war's end, 2,251 B‐29 superfortresses, with crews totaling 24,761 airmen, had made emergency landings on Iwo. The horrific death toll on both sides led Americans to conclude that a land invasion of Japan itself, to end the war, would be long and very costly. Re‐created in John Wayne's The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), this battle looms large in the lore of World War II.

Bibliography

Joseph H. Alexander , Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, 1995.
George C. Garand and and Truman R. Strobridge , Western Pacific Operations, vol. 4 of History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, 1971.

Benis M. Frank

Iwo Jima, Battle of (February 1945) a battle during the western Pacific campaign in World War II. When the Allied Forces Pacific Fleet commander was directed to occupy an island, Iwo Jima was the only significant one available. Working against a Japanese force of 21,000 men and 1,000 guns, the Allied advance was slow, and the island was only secured on March 26, 1945. By that time, 71,245 Marines had been put ashore, with 5,931 killed and 17,372 wounded. The costs to Japan have not been determined. The island then became an important emergency landing site for heavy bombers, with 2,251 of them landing on Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima, Battle of (World War II) (19 Feb.–17 Mar. 1945) The tiny volcanic island of Iwo Jima lies some 750 miles (1,200 km) south of Tokyo in the Bonin archipelago, and was a major air base for the Japanese in World War II. In a bitter fight, the USA took the island in order to gain a base for an eventual landing on mainland Japan. The marines suffered over 20,000 casualties, including 5,000 killed. The island then served as an important base for US bombing raids on Japan.