December 7, 1941. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor and World War has II started. The small, relatively insignificant island of Iwo Jima is about to become one of the bloodiest battlefields in the Pacific Theater. This report will describe the significance of this battle, the planning and strategy behind it, what actually happened, the weapons that were used, and the aftermath, as the capture of Iwo Jima was a major turning point in the war against Japan.
Context After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan and joined the Allied Forces. They were worried, as Japan s position posed a threat to Australia, so they put into action an island hopping campaign. The strategy was to establish an airfield within fighter range of Japan so that planes could escort bombers to Japan in order to end World War II. One of the islands in this campaign was Iwo Jima, a small, pork-chop shaped island 650 miles south of Japan. It was the largest island of the Bonin Islands, and was first known as Sulfur Island, with a dormant volcano called Mount Suribachi.
Planning and Strategy October 3, 1944 The operation, known as Operation Detachment, was performed by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and led by Admiral Nimitz of the U.S. Navy. Other leaders included Holland Howling Mad Smith, Marc Mitscher, Alexander Vandegrift, Graves Erskine, Clifton Cates, and Keller Rockey. With 70,000 marines, the U.S. prepared to invade this island, defended by 22,060 Japanese soldiers led by Tadamichi Kuribayashi. The attack plan was to secure a beachhead, capture Mount Suribachi, and then secure the island.
Description of the Battle December 7, 1944 The U.S. Navy started shelling and bombing the island for 72 days to soften up the defenses. At 900 hours, February 19, 1945, the invasion began and then continued through March 26, 1945. The first marines hit the beach at 9:02AM February 19. This was Day 1 of the invasion of Iwo Jima. A wave of Amtracs (half-tanks, half-bulldozers) was the first to land. These cleared away rubble and other obstacles so that 1,400 could land. At 10:00AM the Japanese started shelling the beach. A traffic jam appeared on the beach as knocked-out landing craft, tanks and Amtracs plus 566 dead marines lay on the beach. On February 20, the invasion began in earnest. That night, the soldiers standing watch in their foxholes were surprised that there were no Banzai charges (suicidal but very effective charges against U.S positions by the Japanese). On February 21, Day 3, over 1,000 marines were in position to attack Mount Suribachi, which was defended by 2,000 Japanese. Led by a man named Lieutenant Schrier, his division prepared to scale Mount Suribachi. At 10:20AM on February 23, the Marines captured Mount Suribachi, led by a different Lieutenant, John K. Genghis Khan Wells. This
was very strategically important and proved to be the turning point of the battle.
Weapons and Vehicles The U.S. used many weapons in the war against Japan and on Iwo Jima, such as the M2 flamethrower, M4 Sherman medium tank, and the infamous Thompson submachine gun. The M4 Sherman tank was named after General William T. Sherman and was the primary tank of the U.S. Army and Marines. It was the second most manufactured tank in WW II. It was so powerful that the gunner had to use HE (high explosive) ammo because anti-tank ammo went right through the lightly armored Japanese tanks and exploded on the other side. One of the unique features on the M4 was an escape hatch on the bottom of the chassis that the U.S. Marines used in reverse to rescue wounded marines under fire. The Thompson submachine gun was invented by John T. Thompson in 1919. It worked on the principal, patented by John Bell Blish in 1915, of the adhesion of inclined metal surfaces under pressure (which means that the pieces of the gun don t get blown apart when the bullets are fired). This gun was also known as the Tommy Gun, Trench Broom, Trench Sweeper, Chicago Typewriter, Chicago Piano, Chicago Style, and The Chopper, It became famous during Prohibition and was popular among soldiers, criminals, police
and civilians. In fact, the famous gangster Machine Gun Kelly was nicknamed for his Thompson submachine gun. In 1938 it was adopted by the U.S. military and used in World War II and beyond. Over 1.5 million were produced during World War II alone. The U.S. Marines used it as a limitedissue weapon for their island assaults such as Iwo Jima. The M2 Flamethrower (M2-2) was a portable backpack flamethrower used in WWII. Its burn time was about 7 seconds and the flame was only effective to about 20 meters but it was still used in many ways in the war. But when tanks were brought in, the need for the portable flamethrowers became less, because the tanks offered better protection and firepower.
Aftermath After the battle, the U.S. had 6,812 marines and naval personnel killed or missing; 2 were captured; and 19, 217 were wounded. The Japanese had 21,844 killed and 216 captured. After the capture of Iwo Jima, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz declared: The battle of Iwo Island [Jima] has been won. The United States Marines, by their individual and collective courage, have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat... Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." Over 3,000 Japanese soldiers stayed in the island s caves and tunnels. They hid in the day and came out at night for provisions. When they surrendered, the Americans surprised them by treating them well and gave them things like cigarettes, soap, food and candy. Two of the soldiers, Yamakage Kufuku and Matsudo Linsoki, refused to surrender for 6 years but finally did in 1951. The U.S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when they returned it to Japan.
The battle of Iwo Jima is a large part of American history and was the turning point in the war against Japan. Iwo Jima is a unique place in the history of the United States. It was not the bloodiest fight in the Pacific campaign, it was not the most operationally sound, not the longest and arguably not the most important. But Iwo is burned into our national psyche in a way that no other battle in U.S. [history] is, said Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Conway.