A total of 70,000 U.S. Marines are available for the invasion of the island of Iwo Jima. Against 27,000 Japanese soldiers. The operation is under the overall command of Adm. R. A. Spruance, Commander Fifth Fleet. Vince Adm. R. K Turner is the Joint Expeditionary Force Commander and Lt. Gen. H. M. Smith, UsmC, commands the Expeditionary Troops. The Japanese tactics would be more of a defense in-depth. No suicide counter attacks. The Japanese built 800 pillboxes and over 3 miles of tunnels on an island that was only 8 square miles in size.
The first objective was Mt. Suribachi located on the southern end of the island. Until Mt. Suribachi was taken the Japanese could fire on any position the Marines had established. On February 20, one day after the landing, the 28th Marines secured the southern end of Iwo Jima and moved to take the summit of Suribachi. By the end of the day, the Marines controlled one third of the island and Motoyama Airfield No. 1. By February 23, the 28th Marines reached the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the U.S. flag.
The 3rd Marine Division joined the fighting on the fifth day of the battle. These Marines immediately began the mission of securing the center sector of the island. Each division fought hard to gain ground against a determined Japanese defender. The Japanese leaders knew with the fall of Suribachi and the capture of the airfields that the Marine advance on the island could not be stopped; however, they would make the Marines fight for every inch of land they won.
Lieutenant General Tadamishi Kuribayashi, commander of the ground forces on Iwo Jima, concentrated his energies and his forces in the central and northern sections of the island. Miles of interlocking caves, concrete blockhouses and pillboxes proved to be one of the most impenetrable defenses encountered by the Marines in the Pacific.
The Marines worked together to drive the enemy from the high ground. Their goal was to capture the area that became known as the “Meat Grinder”. This section of the island included three distinct terrain features, which were the highest point on the northern portion of the island, Hill 382; an elevation known as “Turkey Knob,” which had been reinforced with concrete and was home to a large enemy communication center; and t he “Amphitheater,” a southeastern extension of Hill 382.
The 3rd Marine Division encountered the most heavily fortified portion of the island in their move to take Airfield No. 2. As with most of the fighting on Iwo Jima, frontal assault was the method used to gain each inch of ground. By nightfall on March 9, the 3rd division reached the island’s northeastern beach, cutting the enemy defenses in two.
On the left of the 3rd Marine Division, the 5th Marine Division pushed up the western coast of Iwo Jima from the central airfield to the island’s northern tip. Moving to seize and hold the eastern portion of the island, the 4th Marine Division encountered a “mini banzai” attack from the final members of the Japanese Navy serving on Iwo. This attack resulted in the death of nearly 700 enemies and ended the centralized resistances of enemy forces in the 4th division’s sector. The 4th division would join forces with the 3rd and 5th at the coast on March 10.
A proud moment for those who worked so hard to gain control of the island was when the first emergency landing was mad by a B-29 bomber on March 4. Repairs were made, refueling was completed and the aircraft was off to complete its mission.
Operations entered the final phases March 11, enemy resistance was no longer centralized. Individual pockets of resistance were taken one by one.
Finally on March 26, following a banzai attack against troops and air corps personnel near the beaches, the island was declared secure. The U.S. Army’s 147th Infantry Regiment assumed ground control of the island on April 4, relieving the largest body of Marines committed in combat in one operation during World War II.
“The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which his as necessary to us in continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.”
“By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the fifth Amphibious corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the American who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
--Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
