On this day in history...

[Grand Torino]

In 1945 the flag was raised on Iwo Jima. 

On Iwo Jima, site of a strategic air base located between the Mariana Islands and Japan, the Japanese carved out a network of underground fortifications aimed at turning the small volcanic island into a death trap for invading US Marines. When US Marine divisions invaded on February 19, 1945, planners expected a brief campaign. But for more than five weeks, Japanese forces mounted a fierce defense. The Japanese had to be rooted out of caves and other strongholds in merciless close-quarter assaults. The bloodbath horrified Allied military planners and American citizens, who feared a far greater slaughter during an invasion of Japan’s home islands. 

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the Japanese commander on Iwo Jima, recognized that he could not defeat an American landing. Instead, he planned a long and costly defensive battle to shake American resolve to continue the war and invade the Japanese mainland. The general placed weapons to rain deadly fire on the beaches, but concentrated his forces in the northern part of the island within underground bunkers and gun positions linked by miles of tunnels. This deadly isolationist web of defenses exacted a terrible toll. 

US Marines immortalized the bloodiest battles on Iwo Jima with names depicting the brutal combat. The battles included “The Meat Grinder,” where nearly 850 Marines died capturing a Japanese stronghold, and “Bloody Gorge,” where Japanese defenders made their final stand. The US landing forces suffered 6,821 killed and 19,217 wounded. Although most in the 20,000-strong Japanese garrison were draftees, they refused to surrender, fighting tenaciously until only a few hundred remained alive to be taken prisoner. 

[Dirtshooter]

Iwo Jima  would have been a good place to have dropped a smaller A-bomb. Some may not know this, but the correct name of the island is Iwo To. The jap language is real hard for even japs to understand. The U.S. decided to stick with Iwo Jima.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Dirtshooter

[superduty]

[No_0ne]

16 hours ago, Dirtshooter said:

Iwo Jima  would have been a good place to have dropped a smaller A-bomb. Some may not know this, but the correct name of the island is Iwo To. The jap language is real hard for even japs to understand. The U.S. decided to stick with Iwo Jima.

Except of course there were no A-bombs, large or small in February 1945 ...