75th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima
The Naval Institute presents a look back at the epic battle, as featured in its magazines, oral histories, and books.
The situation atop Mount Suribachi is well in hand as Marines give the Stars and Stripes to the breezes that blow over the crater of Iwo Jima's volcano.
Seventy-five years ago, U.S. Marines came ashore on a desolate eight-square-mile volcanic island dominated by Mount Suribachi and located roughly halfway between the Marianas and Tokyo. Iwo Jima’s value lay in its airfields. B-29s Superfortresses that were damaged or low on fuel could land there, and Army Air Forces fighters based on the island could escort the bombers to their targets in Japan. Three Marine divisions—more than 70,000 men—had the task of seizing the island. But an operation that U.S. commanders forecast would take a week to complete would stretch out to five weeks, and the Marines’ determination and sacrifice on Iwo Jima would become enduring touchstones for the Corps.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/75th-Anniversary-Iwo-Jima
