South Field ( Iwo Jima ) South Field was a World War II airfield on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands , located in the Central Pacific . The Volcano Islands are part of Japan . The airfield was located on the southern corner of Iwo Jima located on the Motoyama plateau , to the north of Mount Suribachi . History . Built by the Japanese , the base included three intersecting runways . On 2 January 1944 , more than a dozen B - 24 Liberator bombers raided Airfield No . 1 and inflicted heavy damage . Commander of the island , Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi diverted more than 600 men , 11 trucks , and 2 bulldozers for immediate repairs . As a result , the airfield again became operational after only twelve hours . It was used by the Japanese until 19 February 1945 when the United States Marines landed on the island . It was during the fight to secure this airfield that Medal of Honor recipient Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was killed by a Japanese mortar shell . The airfield became a battlefield during the Battle of Iwo Jima . It was put into action by the Americans as the battle still raged . At South Field , the east - northeast to west - southwest runway was being used by observation planes as early as 26 February ( D plus 7 ) when the first American aircraft landed on the strip , an OY - 1 Sentinel piloted by Lt . Harvey Olson of VMO - 4 . By 2 March the runway had been graded to 4 , 000 - feet ( 1 , 219 - meters ) . Later , on 4 March with the battle still raging a B - 29 Superfortress named " Dinah Might " from the 9th Bombardment Group ( Very Heavy ) landed , the first of 2 , 400 emergency landings by American aircraft at South Field and North Field on Iwo Jima . On 9 March , this airfield paid its first dividend when a B - 29 in distress came in for an emergency landing . Two days later the Twentieth Air Force P - 51 Mustang s of the 15th and 21st Fighter Group s came up from Saipan for long - range B - 29 fighter escort operations . From then on , South Field was in constant use while construction was continued . On 7 April 1945 , P - 51s took off from South Field to form the first land - based fighter escort for B - 29s on a strike against the Japanese homeland . By July , the runway had been extended to 6 , 000 - by - 200 - feet ( 1 , 829 - by - 61 - meters ) and had been surfaced with emulsified asphalt . Also constructed were 7 , 950 - feet ( 2 , 423 - meters ) of taxiways and 258 hardstands . This field could accommodate 100 P - 51s and 30 B - 24 Liberators . In an emergency , B - 29s could land here . Fighter escort operations took place from March until November 1945 . After the war , the 20th Air Force fighter squadrons moved out to Japan , Okinawa or the Philippines and South Field came under the Jurisdiction of Military Air Transport Service ( MATS ) , becoming a refueling stop for MATS aircraft in the Western Pacific . It hosted various communications , weather as well as Far East Materiel Command units for supply and maintenance activities . It was under the command of the Iwo Jima Base Command , as a satellite of the 6000th Support Wing , Tachikawa Air Base , Japan . It was likely classified as a remote assignment for military personnel , as other than rudimentary medical and personnel living facilities , no family housing or other quality of life facilities were built to accommodate families for accompanied tours . The USAF 6415th Air Base Squadron garrisoned the base until turning over the facility to the Japanese government on 30 September 1955 . Today most traces of the airfield have been removed , and natural vegetation has taken over the landscape . Possibly some small roads remain which are still in use .