Battle of Iwo Jima

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 United States 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 to 26 March 1945. It was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan.

The Americans wanted to capture the island, including its three airfields, and use this area for attacks on the Japanese main islands.

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. 
The 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.

There were 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, and only 216 were taken prisoner at the end.

With no retreat and no possibility of reinforcements, the Japanese had dug in and prepared to fight until they died. To take control of the island, the Americans would have to destroy the entire Japanese force stationed on the island.

The battle was made famous by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the US flag on top of the  Mount Suribachi.

This photo became an important image of this battle, the war in the Pacific, and the Marine Corps.

## Background
After the Americans captured the Marshall Islands in January 1944, the Japanese military leaders thought about their situation.

It looked like the Americans would go toward the Mariana Islands and the Carolines. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) set up a line of defences.

In March 1945, the Japanese 31st Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was ordered to defend this line.

The commander of the Japanese group on Chichi Jima was placed in command of Army and Navy units in the Volcano Islands.

At 08:59, 30,000 Marines began landing on the island. The Japanese held their fire for some time and men and material began to fill the beaches. Then, the Japanese opened fire, and many in the first group of Marines were killed by the machine guns.

Japanese heavy artillery was protected by steel doors that closed to protect the guns between shots, which made it difficult for American units to destroy the artillery.

## Northern Iwo Jima
 machine gun at the Japanese]]

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 damaged.

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  and severely damaged the . There was minor damage to the escort carrier , an LST, and a transport.

A 300-man Japanese force attacked Airfield No. 2. There was a 90-minute fight in which the Marines suffered heavy casualties (53 killed, 120 wounded). The island was finally captured at 09:00 on 26 March.

## Weapons 
In the Pacific the United States used M2 flamethrowers.  to kill the Japanese in caves. Marines also had flamethrowers on tanks and used them during battle. They were less useful because of Iwo Jima's rough land. Many other infantry weapons were used, including the infamous M1 Garand.

## Aftermath
Of the 22,060 Japanese soldiers on the island, 18,844 died from fighting or by suicide. Only 216 were captured during the battle. After Iwo Jima, 3,000 hid in the tunnels.

The 36-day battle for Iwo Jima resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead. By comparison, the 82-day battle for Okinawa resulted in casualties of over 62,000, of whom over 12,000 were killed or missing. Iwo Jima was also the only US Marine battle in which the Americans suffered more casualties than the Japanese.

Because they had all been removed, there were no civilian casualties at Iwo Jima, unlike at Saipan and Okinawa.

## Strategic importance
Given the number of casualties, the importance of the island's capture is controversial.

Iwo Jima was not used by the US Army Air Corps to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. Tinian was the Island both bombers left to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were 12 hours out and back.

The argument for capturing Iwo Jima was that it provided a landing and refueling airfield for fighter escorts, but only ten missions were ever flown from Iwo Jima.

Japanese fighter aircraft based on Iwo Jima sometimes attacked the US forces. Only 11 B-29s were lost.

The Japanese on Iwo Jima had radar and could notify Japanese forces at home of B-29 Superfortresses flying from the Mariana Islands.

However, the capture of Iwo Jima did not affect the Japanese radar system.

## Legacy
The US Navy has several ships of the name .

On 19 February 1985, the 40th anniversary of the landings, an event called the Reunion of Honor was held. The veterans of both sides who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima attended the event. A memorial was built. Representatives of both countries shook hands.

The importance of the battle to Marines today can be seen. Marines go to the island and to the summit of Suribachi.

The Japanese government continues to search for the bodies of Japanese military troops who were killed during the battle.

## Medal of Honor awards
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is given to a member of the United States armed forces who show bravery and risks his life in a battle. The medal is often awarded after death. It has been given only 3,464 times.

During this one-month-long battle, 27 U.S. military personnel were given the Medal of Honor for their actions, 14 of them after death.

## Movies and documentaries 
**To the Shores of Iwo Jima*, a 1945 American documentary produced by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard.
**Glamour Gal*, a 1945 film about Marine artillery.
**Sands of Iwo Jima*, a 1949 American film starring John Wayne.
**The Outsider*, a 1961 film starring Tony Curtis as the conflicted flag raiser Ira Hayes.
**Flags of Our Fathers* and *Letters from Iwo Jima* are two 2006 films directed by Clint Eastwood. *Flags of Our Fathers* is filmed from the American perspective and is based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers (*Flags of Our Fathers*). *Letters from Iwo Jima* (originally titled *Red Sun, Black Sand*) is filmed from the Japanese perspective.
* Part 8 of the 2010 HBO miniseries *The Pacific*, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, includes part of the battle of Iwo Jima from the point of view of a Marine who died there. 
* Episode 23 from the 1973 Thames Television Documentary *The World at War*.
*Battle Rats: Iwo Jima (2009) (TV).
* The movie "The League of Grateful Sons" by Vision Forum concerns the Battle of Iwo Jima

## Notes
## References 
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* Burrell, Robert S. "Breaking the Cycle of Iwo Jima Mythology: A Strategic Study of Operation Detachment," *Journal of Military History* Volume 68, Number 4, October 2004, pp.&nbsp;1143–1186 and rebuttal in Project MUSE 
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* Linenthal, Edward T. "Shaping a Heroic Presence: Iwo Jima in American Memory," *Reviews in American History* Vol. 21, No. 1 (March 1993), pp.&nbsp;8–12 in JSTOR
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*Kindersley, Dorling; World War II: The Definitive Visual History; DK publishing; 2009

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* – 3-D Stereo Photograph of Iwo Jima Flag-raising.
* – A tone-mapped High Dynamic Range Image of Iwo Jima.
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