19 February 1945 A.D. U.S. Marines on the Beaches at Iwo Jima—By Day’s End: 550 Dead Marines & 1800 Wounded; Salute to COL John Strope, USMC (ret.), Iwo Survivor, Purple Heart from Iwo, and Parishioner at our Parish
19 February 1945 A.D. U.S. Marines on the Beaches at
Iwo Jima—By Day’s End: 550 Dead Marines & 1800 Wounded; Salute to COL John
Strope, USMC (ret.), Iwo Survivor, Purple Heart from Iwo, and Parishioner at
our Parish
Marines invade Iwo Jima
Editors. “Marines invade Iwo Jima.” History.com. N.d. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marines-invade-iwo-jima. Accessed 18 Feb 2015.
Marines invade Iwo Jima
On this day, Operation
Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of Iwo Jima, is launched. Iwo Jima was a
barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese artillery, but to American military
minds, it was prime real estate on which to build airfields to launch bombing
raids against Japan, only 660 miles away.
The Americans began applying
pressure to the Japanese defense of the island in February 1944, when B-24 and
B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days. It was the longest pre-invasion
bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which the Japanese--21,000
strong--fortified the island, above and below ground, including a network of
caves. Underwater demolition teams ("frogmen") were dispatched by the
Americans just before the actual invasion. When the Japanese fired on the
frogmen, they gave away many of their "secret" gun positions.
The amphibious landings of
Marines began the morning of February 19 as the secretary of the navy, James
Forrestal, accompanied by journalists, surveyed the scene from a command ship
offshore. As the Marines made their way onto the island, seven Japanese
battalions opened fire on them. By evening, more than 550 Marines were dead and
more than 1,800 were wounded. The capture of Mount Suribachi, the highest point
of the island and bastion of the Japanese defense, took four more days and many
more casualties. When the American flag was finally raised on Iwo Jima, the
memorable image was captured in a famous photograph that later won the Pulitzer
Prize.
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