Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima was of great advantage for the Japanese and could be of equal advantage to the Americans. It threatened America in several ways; one being it gave the Japanese an early warning of any American bombers before they could reach their destination and two, it threatened the bombers. The Americans then decided the best solution would be to capture it. When captured it would then have given the Americans the advantage of an additional airfield against

The island of Iwo Jima was wanted by America and Japan. Allied powers were developing plans or the Invasion of Okinawa, but were faced with offensive, which was Iwo Jima. Americans were planning on taking control of the island. Americans wanted to use the island as an airbase because the island lies right in the middle

First, In addition to providing a fighter escort for B-29 bomber attacks on Japan, the capture of Iwo Jima would neutralize a Japanese Radar station on the island. It would also provide an air defense base to protect the ZY Bombers against Japan and perhaps precipitate a decisive sea battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy. One thing about the battle of Iwo Jima, is although this battle was a high point for American valor, it was a very low point for American strategy. Despite the size, Iwo Jima was considered to have great tactical importance. There were to airfields on the island under Japan control; they would be used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to

The battle of Iwo Jima happened because the location of the island was tactically important. Iwo Jima was close enough to the main island of Japan that the U.S. could send fighter jets with bombers to bomb the main island. There were three airfields which could be used for emergency landing bases during the bombing runs. Taking over the airfields would also help stop the Japanese fighter jets shooting down B-29s during bombing runs.

An armada of over five hundred ships and three Divisions of Marines, all to take a small Godforsaken volcanic Island with an area of about eight square miles. Two days with an additional day to "mop" up is all it should take. An Island located almost halfway the distance from the Marianas Army Air Corps B-29 airbases and Mainland Japan. A perfect spot to station fighter support and use as an emergency divert airbase. The assaulting American armada commanded by the brilliant and humble Admiral Raymond Spruance, hero of "Midway", with the V Amphibious Corps led by a two "World War" veteran MajGen Harry Schmidt. Defended by the Imperial Japanese Army, Commanded by LtGen Tadamichi, Kuribayashi a tactician not to be underestimated.

Iwo Jima was an island located about 810 miles south-east of Japan. It was part of an island chain called the Japanese Volcano Islands. It measures about 5 miles long and has an area of about 8 square miles, which is about 8,000 times smaller than Wisconsin. It ranges from 800 yards to 2.5 miles in width. Iwo Jima was widely known for a volcano called Mount Suribachi. The U.S. really focused on capturing this landmark because it could provide them with a great view of the island and it would make it easier to see the

3 Iwo Jima would serve as safe haven for the American forces by being a refugee area for the damage aircrafts (such as B-29s) from the bombing raid from Tokyo and also the threat from the Japanese stations will be diminished. 4 On December 8, 1944, the US Air Force began dropping bombs to the island in order to the soften up the Japanese defenses which lasted for seventy days. Holland Smith, the Marines general that was in charge of the landing operations requested for ten days of naval bombardment before the marines strike the beaches. However, Smith’s request was denied and was given only for three days, and on February 19, 1945, Operation Detachment was launched.2 In the film, the pre-landing process could be seen such as the soldiers were briefed about the battle plans and briefly described the island itself. Another example is when the US air force was seen passing by the marine ships, and all the soldiers were cheering excitedly implying that these aircrafts were heading to the Iwo Jima island. The shelling could also be seen in the film, where the ships were bombing the island and General “Howlin’ Mad” Smith were seen yelling at the phone “You’re giving me three and that’s the best you can

During the Pacific campaign it was very important for the United States to establish airfields in Marianas, Tinian, and Saipan to provide bomber missions against Tokyo and establish U.S bases close to Japan. This helped the U.S a lot but their were still several problems with how far the airfields were and if there were any mechanical problems with the plans, or high heads winds it could impede the safe return of the aircraft. There were Japanese fighters based on Iwo Jima that were based half way from Marianas and Tokyo that exposed U.S bombers. The United States knew they had to come up with a plan to shorten the route for the bomber to safely be able to complete their missions. Shortly after analyzing where to place an airfield, they came up with Iwo Jima. The Commander for the U.S. knew this was not going to be an easy mission and identified establishing airfields on the island would make future missions successful.

The battle of Iwo Jima is one of the great and epic battles entrenched in minds of many American historians. It is an eminent battle that took place in February and March 1945 as part of the pacific campaign during the famous World War II. It was an epic battle in which the Unites States armed forces fought tirelessly and seized the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese empire. It was expected to be a small battle to secure a strategy piece of the island, but it turned out to be one of the lethal and devastating battles of all times.

Even though they had 155,000 men they could not use a similar tactic to the one they used on Iwo Jima (Hammel). Because of spotty reconnaissance, the Americans believed that on landing the Americans would have an 80-85% casualty rate. However, this did not happen because the Japanese built their fortifications deeper into the island (Frame). On the landing of the American forces, they lost very few men. This is because the Japanese, rather than fighting on the beaches, chose to dig in further up the island (“Battle”). This allowed the Japanese to fortify their positions and make the fight as hard as possible. The Japanese built Anchors on either side of their positions and made it difficult for the Americans to flank (Chen). The Japanese also built bunkers and tunnels that allowed them to escape artillery bombing. The tunnels also allowed quick, relatively safe, transport of troops to different parts of the

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki helped bring the war in the Pacific to an end. Soon after the United States retaliated, the civilian population of Japan was left apprehensive and ready to surrender. They had very little will to continue the war after the United States made this advancement. It showed Japan that the United States would fight for themselves when truly necessary. The

“Easy Company started with 310 men. We suffered 75% casualties. Only 50 men boarded the ship after the battle. Seven officers went into the battle with me. Only one–me–walked off Iwo.” . . . Captain Dave Severance, Easy Company Commander (the Flag Raising Company) The Japanese could see the marines perfectly. The battle became very hard. The Japanese would pop out, fire, and go back into their tunnels. The Marines needed a new strategy. They brought in tanks armed with flame throwers that could shoot over 150 yards for almost 90 seconds. The Japanese decided they would hide and come back later. Things on the island calmed down, and after an hour or two the Japanese would begin firing into groups with lots of surprise. They camped out near airfield 1, waiting forthe time to move onto airfield 2. On the other end of the island, soldiers fought to capture Mt. Suribachi. This was the small volcano that towered over the island. It was the highest point on the island, but also on of the most heavily armed part. Whoever held that mountain had control of the island. This is where the most famous and most reproduced image of all time was

It triggered Japan to surrender and ended the war quicker. It saved the lives of a lot of American people. It showed the superiority of the US to the rest of the world, by showing their possession of atomic weapons. Though the immediate

As suggested earlier in the report, the US failed to score a quick victory over the Japanese, as its intelligence department predicted. In the days preceding the amphibious assault on 19 February 1945, the US conducted a heavy bombardment of the island. Yet, although these bombardments yielded some positive results, destroying some pillboxes and bunkers, their overall significance was limited. The Japanese, after all, hid in their underground tunnels. Holed into their pillboxes, the Japanese remained on the defensive for the entirety of the battle. The Americans, on the other hand, struggled forlornly to gain an advantage at the outset of the battle.

picture taken during battle. The island of Iwo Jima is now uninhabited. Tourists visit Iwo