Evening star., 1945-02-21
No Front Line on Two;
Whole Island Is Zone
OF Battle al All Hours
By MORRIE LANDSBERG,

Associated Press War Correspondent
TWO JIMA. sVolcano Islands. Feb.
81 (Via Navy Radio There is no
front line on bloody Two. The whole
OF the small, gourd-shaped island
is a battle zone. in the gray mist
of day and through the chill black
ness of night.
The front line may gbe the north.
ern edge of the southern airfield
captured by marines yesterday. 1t
may be at the foot of Suribachi
Yama, fortified volcanic cone under
assault by other Leathernecks.
Grit may be just anywhere on the
bomb and shell torn beachhead.
There is no place on the 5-mile-
long island one can point to and
say "they can't reach me here"
They can and do.
Suddenly, unexpectedly. enemy
fire streams down in an angry
spasm from the commanding Japa-
nese positions.
Japs Control All Cover.
The japanese have all of the cover
what little this island has-plus
what they have built in pillboxes.
blockhouses, caves, and even REIN
forced foxholes. 1t will be a great
blow to their defenses when they
lose Suribachi-the Americans won't
have the japanese to the rear as
they do now. In addition to gun
positions, the 550-foot-high volcano
has four underground entrances on
the north side where supplies are
probably stored.
Marine advances have been made
against unrelentingly heavy opposi-
ton by the foe fighting savagely to
save this rock and sand bastion in
tended to guard the homeland, some
100 miles away
Continual naval and air bonn
bardment pouring thousands of tons
of explosives into enemy positions
failed to lessen the ferocity of jap
aneSe resistance.
American ground troops threat
ening the central airield, north of
captured Motoyama No. l, were
facing a nigh volume of small arms
fire and intense mortar, automatic
weapons, rocket and artillery bar
RACES.
Minefields and pillboxes obstruct-
ed the drive.
Jap Night Attack Repulsed.
Tanks. naval gunfire and carrier
planes kept up a pounding assault
against enemy installations to the |
immediate southern front of the |
central airfeld. which has runways
5,335 and 4,425 feet long but no
hangers.
During the night the Japanese
launched a small infantry and tank
attack against the marines left
flank. 1t was repulSed by combined
infantry and artillery fire.
The enemy attempted infiltration
throughout the night. One batal-
lion reported killing 100 japanese.
These tactics were co-ordinated with .
night-long artillery fire in which
an American ammunition dump was
hit.
United States warShips haraSsed |
the enemy with shelling during the ,
night and fired flares to keep the
japanese in their holes or expose
their movements.
Called Toughest Battle.
On the third day of the campaign
there were no doubts that Two, the
rock, is by far the toughest battle
of the Pacific. How long it will be
before it is crushed nobody was in
clined to say.
AS the war in the Pacific pro-
crosses, it's getting tougher and
tougher to shoot pictures of Yank
landings. But depend on it, the
quiet little man with the dark brown
moustache, the thick-lensed spec
tacles and the long cigarette holder
was there among the first on the
assault beach on Two with his
camera. |,
D day Of this operation, as on
other D days in the Pacific, Asso-
ciated Press Joe Rosenthal reached
Iwo's smoking shore before noon
and began clicking his camera and
making pictures which made history. +
(Mr. Rosenthals Two beach
pictures were flown to Guam and
sent by Navy radio to San Fran
cisco within "a hours. They were