Battle of Iwo Jima
1945 major battle in which US Forces captured the island of Iwo Jima from Japan during World War II / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Iwo Jima | |||||||
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Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
A U.S. 37 mm (1.5 in) gun fires against Japanese cave positions in the north face of Mount Suribachi | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Empire of Japan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Holland Smith Marc Mitscher | Tadamichi Kuribayashi † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
70,000 | 18,061–18,591[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
12,822 killed/missing[2] 19,217 wounded[1] |
17,845–18,375 killed/missing[1] 216 captured[1] |
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, that were both directed by Clint Eastwood.
It lasted from 19 February – 26 March 1945. It was a 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.[2] 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.[3]
The Imperial Japanese Army had thick defenses and underground tunnels for cover.[4][5] The Americans had ships that could fire on the island and total control of the air.[6] 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.
There were 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, and only 216 were taken prisoner at the end.[1]
About 3,000 Japanese soldiers kept fighting for weeks.[1][7]
With no retreat and no possibility of reinforcements, the Japanese had dug in and prepared to fight until they died. This meant that winning the battle, meant the Americans would have to destroy the entire Japanese force stationed on the island.[8]
The battle was made famous by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi.
This photo became an important image of this battle, of the war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps.[9]