page_title: Battle of Iwo Jima
section_title: Northern Iwo Jima
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Iwo Jima / Northern Iwo Jima
caption_attribution_description: English: World War II, Iwo Jima Marine Machine Gun Team Fires on Japanese Positions HMG Browning M1917
context_page_description: The Battle of Iwo Jima was the American capture of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The USA needed to capture Iwo Jima to be able to defeat Japan. Many films were made about it, for example Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, both directed by Clint Eastwood.
  It lasted from 19 February – 26 March 1945. It was major battle in which the United States Armed Forces captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire.
  The Americans wanted to capture the island, including its three airfields, and use this area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle had violent fighting.
  After suffering such heavy losses, people questioned why the US went into the battle. The island was not useful for the Navy or Air Force.
  The Imperial Japanese Army had thick defenses and underground tunnels for cover. The Americans had ships that could fire on the island and total control of the air.
  This invasion was the first American attack on Japanese home territory.
  The Japanese general, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, and his soldiers refused to surrender. He and his officers said they would fight until they died.
context_section_description: The Japanese still held positions on the north end. Kuribayashi had eight infantry battalions, a tank regiment, two artillery battalions, and three heavy mortar battalions. He also had about 5,000 gunners and naval infantry.
  The Marines' tanks were destroyed by Japanese fire and mines. Many Americans were killed or wounded.
  The Marines attacked in the darkness with no bombing before the attack. Many Japanese soldiers were killed while still sleeping.
  On the evening of 8 March, Captain Samaji Inouye and his 1,000 men attacked the Americans causing 347 casualties (90 deaths). The Marines counted 784 dead Japanese soldiers the next day.
  There was also a kamikaze air attack on the ships anchored at sea on 21 February. This sunk the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and severely damaged the USS Saratoga. There was minor damage to the escort carrier USS Lunga Point, an LST, and a transport.
  On 16 March, Kuribayashi's soldiers were still alive on the northwestern end of the island. On 21 March, the Marines blew up the Japanese with four tons of explosives. On 24 March, Marines sealed up the caves.
  A 300-man Japanese force attacked Airfield No. 2. There was a 90-minute fight and it suffered heavy casualties (53 killed, 120 wounded). The island was finally captured at 09:00 on 26 March.
caption: A U.S. Marine firing his Browning M1917 machine gun at the Japanese
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.10.0", "Image DateTime": "2018:05:05 23:42:39", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "256", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "212", "Thumbnail BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail PhotometricInterpretation": "6", "Thumbnail SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "230", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11461"}