Iwo Jima 2/19/1945
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My dad missed Iwo. His ship happened to be in for repair at the time. He was happy about that. But he did make it to Okinawa those kids were scared to death. Nasty fighting on the island and kamikaze pilots diving on the ships had to have been hell.
One thing that I always notice with pictures taken on the pacific islands during WWII is the tree remains and lack of vegetation. No telling how many tons of shells were dropped on the islands before the landing.
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My dad's B24 Group was one of the ones who bombed it.
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Duly corrected, Sir. Carry on.
What is unbelievable is the fact that all that ordnance (plus shelling by the Navy) failed to soften up the Japanese defenses. They were so well dug-in with their huge network of tunnels that the majority of them survived the initial bombardment. The high-explosive bombs only managed to throw the volcanic soil around and the armor-piercing ones usually just landed with a thud. It took a direct hit on a tunnel entrance to do any good.
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There were no "safe spaces" on Iwo.
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Iwo was the only battle where we lost more men than the enemy did. There were 25,000 Japanese soldiers at the beginning, only 300 were taken prisoner, the rest all died. But our losses were higher. There are some great pieces on CSPAN and YouTube on that battle and others.
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We had an attack force of some 70,000 combined force troops, most Marines. Japan had a defending force of some 22,000 - mostly IJN Marines. Our casualties were 6821 KIA, 19,217 WIA. The IJN casualties were 21,844 KIA, and 216 POWs. Most of the POWs that we’re taken were Korean laborers.
Adm Nimitz said of the battle that “ uncommon valor was a common virtue “. He was right.
Adm Nimitz said of the battle that “ uncommon valor was a common virtue “. He was right.
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From the same author of Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, I'm about 3/4 the way through The Fleet At Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, James Hornfischer. As always, awesomely researched and written. Our troops have just taken the Mariana Islands and constructed our bases, just launching against Iwo, and beginning the firebomb campaign against the mainland. Hornfischer’s books are hard to put down.
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The 70K number, which upon further research is probably closer to 80K, also included AAF and Navy Carrier flight crews who bombed the island in pre-landing “softening up” operations. The units involved were the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Div; the 147th Infantry Regiment; 7th AAF; and the US 5th Fleet. Still, the vast majority of those involved, and all of the ground combatants, were Marines, recognizing as you mentioned Navy Corpsmen and Drs in support of FMFs. There’s been some recent research as to whether taking Iwo was really necessary. Reviewing Primary documentation reveals conflicting justification as to why Iwo was so important. But regardless of the revisionist historians or the “arm chair generals”, every man jack that set foot on that hell hole of an island deserves to be counted as a Hero. Every one of them.
A good read on this topic is “Ghost of Iwo Jima” by Robert S. Burrell.
Semper Fi, Shipmate
That’s for damn sure!
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