The Battle - The Land Battle

Click to see a large view.	D-Day February 19, 1945 Shortly before 2am on Feb. 19, 1945, the Navy's big guns opened up on Iwo Jima again, signaling the beginning of D-Day. After an hour of punishment, the fire was lifted, leaving Iwo smoking as if the entire island were on fire. Both Americans aboard their transports and the Japanese in their caves looked to the skies now. One-hundred-ten bombers screamed out of the sky to drop more bombs. After the planes left, the big guns of the Navy opened up again. At 8:30am, the order, "Land the Landing Force," sent the first wave of Marines towards the deadly shores. Once ashore, the Marines were bedeviled by the loose volcanic ash. Unable to dig foxholes, they were sitting ducks for the hidden Japanese gunners. Heavy fire made it impossible to land men in an orderly manner. Confusion reigned on the beaches. The battle was unique in its setting. One hundred thousand men fighting on a tiny island one-third the size of Manhattan. For 36 days Iwo Jima was one of the most populated 7.5 miles on earth.
Click to see a large view.	Mt. Suribachi, the 550-foot volcanic cone at the islands southern tip, dominates both possible landing beaches. From here, Japanese gunners zeroed in on every inch of the landing beach. Blockhouses and pillboxes flanked the landing areas. Within, more heavy weapons stood ready to blast the attacking Marines. Machine guns criss-crossed the beaches with deadly interlocking fire. Rockets, anti-boat and anti-tank guns were also trained on the beaches. Every Marine, everywhere on the island was always in range of Japanese guns. The Japanese were ready.
Click to see a large view.	The invading US Marines fought above ground. The defending Japanese fought from below ground. The US Marines on Iwo rarely saw a Japanese soldier.
Click to see a large view.	Historians described U.S. forces' attack against the Japanese defense as "throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete."
Click to see a large view.	There were no front lines. The Marines were above ground and the Japanese were below them underground. The Marines rarely saw an alive Japanese soldier. The Japanese could see the Marines perfectly.
Click to see a large view.	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)
Click to see a large view.	The battle was won by the inch-by-inch tenacity of the foot soldier.
Click to see a large view.	Liquid gas, napalm and hand grenades were more useful against the underground Japanese.

7 Comments

Marissa McIntyre | November 19, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply

Wow this is a lot of useful information! very helpful for my term paper. RIP all our lost soldiers

martin | November 17, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply

Guys if you watch both movies you should feel for every solider who had to endure this horrivic event in history
lets hope we in our time do not have to experence what they did !!

leslie trout | November 13, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply

i love the movie flags of our fathers

Jake Elwell | November 13, 2009 9:35 AM | Reply

This is cool. I found another remade pic of the flag raising, but from Halo 3 check it out. http://www.myextralife.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/l_f5f6d6b0bfa2161fecf498768c5d20a6-1.jpg

burtonrobson | November 12, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply

Not cool, sickening, may they all R.I.P.

Jose Hnry | November 12, 2009 1:10 PM | Reply

This is cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jake Wyss | November 12, 2009 12:41 PM | Reply

this is awesome. i am doing my prodject on this. mabey i will some day be in the marines

The Battle - The Land Battle

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