Essay On Iwo Jima

On March 25, a “300-man” Japanese force launched a final attack that imposed more than 100 casualties on U.S. Iwo Jima was declared conquered by Chester Nimitz on March 14, 1945. He said, “all powers of government of the Japanese Empire in these islands are hereby suspended.” Although Chester declared it, he also declared it too early, and therefore it didn’t put a stop to the fighting on the island. It’s said that Kuribayashi actually lead the attack himself.

"Victory was never in doubt. Its cost was. What was in doubt was whether there would be any of us left to dedicate our cemetery at the end, or whether the last Marine would die knocking out the last Japanese gunner," Major General Graves Erskine, dedicating his 3rd Marine Division cemetery at Iwo Jima just after the battle.(Alexander 207)

The war in Europe was finished and America was still fighting Japan in the Pacific. The American people’s will to continue the war effort was falling and the government had to think of a way to end the war. They needed to take some of the Pacific to be able to get close enough to Japan to finish the war. They started by taking islands but ran into heavy Japanese resistance; soldier’s that were almost all willing to die for their emperor. That included fake surrendering, making and then hiding in elaborate cave systems, and killing other Japanese who were trying to surrender. This weighed heavily on the soldiers and made fighting incredibly hard. Even when they had an island there were Japanese who had hidden and still tried to kill the

The battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were two of the most important American operations in the Pacific Theatre against the Empire of Japan during World War Two. The goal of the two operations was to secure strategically important islands close to Japan to use for bombing campaigns. The battles for Iwo Jima(February-March 1945) and Okinawa f(April-June 1945) killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and helped to win the war for the United States.

What happened during this battle? The Japanese really practiced and prepared carefully for their attack on Pearl Harbor.

he Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the Second World War in which the US Armed Forces captured the Iwo Jima Island from the Japanese. More than 6800 American servicemen lost their lives in the battle and thus the battle has come to known as the deadliest battle in Marine Corps history. Iwo Jima was an island strategically positioned and highly fortified as its three airfields were used to stage attacks on the US at the Pacific War. It was therefore Americas target to capture the island and use it to stage attacks on Japans mainland and use the airfields as emergency landing strips for the US Navy planes damaged during war. According to The Washington Post a small group gathered on Thursday February 18th

In June of 1944, Lieutenant General Kuribayashi arrived on Iwo Jima to find discover a rivalry between the Army and the Navy. By late July, Kuribayashi had evacuated all civilians from the island and sent back officers he considered uncooperative. The civilians and the incorporating officers were no use to him and would only drain the water and food supplies. After these acts were completed, he began his act in building the fortress. Kuribayashi split Iwo Jima into five sectors. He would control the mountain area himself and would be leaving the volcano and its 200 men as an independent command under Colonel Atsuli. Kuribayashi's departure had been normal practice for the Japanese Imperial Army, but he predicted that American air and naval bombardments would destroy any defenses on the beaches.

If the American Army went ahead with a land attack on the Japanese they would have lost countless

suffered a major defeat at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, took advantage of the situation the U.S. was put in after its losses during Pearl Harbor (“Japs Risk Large Naval Units...”). With the backbone of U.S. Pacific Fleet torn out, Japan made several attempts to dominate the Pacific. Japan was anxious to settle their differences with the U.S., so they began risking large naval units in Pacific battles. An article posted in the Los Angeles Time, “Japs Risk Large Naval Units in Blows at U.S.” says, “For the sixth time in six months Japan made a deadly bid to capture the mastery of the Pacific, and for the sixth time she has failed after paying a price that is fast becoming prohibitive,” (“Japs Risk Large Naval Units...”). This article was posted days after the Battle of Midway, on June 7th, 1942 reflecting the actions of the Japanese Navy in the previous months. The Japanese were anxious to pounce on the weakened U.S. after Pearl Harbor, backing their attacks with large naval units. The Japanese felt that they needed to take over Midway Island in order to claim dominance over the U.S. in the Pacific.

The American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima, was sparked by the desire for a place where B-29 bombers damaged over Japan could land without returning all the way to the Marianas. The battle was between the U.S. and Japan. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, and it was attacked by three marine divisions after preparatory air and naval bombardment. The Battle of Iwo Jima Took place on the island of Iwo Jima. The significance of the battle is that it got us closer to the Japanese mainland, and therefore, defeating

Japanese were fighting to defend the islands from the Americans while they were advancing in

Japan attacked the United States of America in Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed the way the U.S does things. It’s how we got into a fight with Imperial Japan. It was a devastating time for the U.S. .

On February 19, 1945, four years after Japanese fighters attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, U.S. Marines landed on the Island of Iwo Jima, launching Operation Detachment. The Marines trudged through the heavily occupied island in an effort to make a stronghold atop the island’s highest point: Mt. Suribachi. Marines were certain that capturing this part of the island would give them the advantage over the Japanese troops that occupied the island. Destruction from the pre-invasion bombing by U.S. B-24 and B-25 bombers, as well as rapid fire from Japanese battalions, made advancement across the island nearly impossible. Then, on February 23, 1945, Marines reached the summit of Mt. Suribachi. A symbol of victory, strength and valor was

The first lesson I took from this battle is just because you have the force to accomplish a mission doesn’t mean the fight will be easy. Japan had an overwhelming force, outnumbering the Americans 2 to 1. Overconfidence and complacency set in with the Japanese troops and their leader Admiral Yamamoto. The Japanese rolled through the Pacific and expected more of the same. When a leader cannot effectively manage his force he is doomed to fail as in this instance. America was not larger but had the force and direction to accomplish the task. As a result the Americans won this battle and destroyed the Japanese entire naval fleet. I learned that with proper planning, strategy and the right amount of intelligence you can accomplish more with less.

On December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was the target of an unannounced military attack by the Japanese Navy. This resulted in the United States entry into World War II. After almost 4 years of war, 400,000 US casualties, 6 months of air strikes on Japanese cities and an impending defeat of Japan, an ultimatum was delivered to Japan by the United States: surrender or be destroyed.