The Battle - Japan's Iwo Jima Strategy

As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank You.

There is obvisously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features too. Great Job.

I've been coming to this site for a number of years now, because there is occasionally something new. The last time I was here was about 6 months ago, and I don't believe this comment section was here.
The thing about having comment sections on websites is that you always get people who talk trash, and belittle others because they don't have to do it face-to-face. In other words, cowards.
Tonight was the first time I saw this comment section, and I read a couple of them, and that was enough. Some of you don't have the common decency to respect what this site is about, or the intelligence to know what it represents. If you think about it, no one really cares about your opinions, and would rather you not post anything at all.
Personally, I could give a rats a** what you think, or what you post, or even what you will eventually say about me, because I won't be viewing this section again. So, the next time you feel the urge to blast someone, take that time and think about getting yourself a real life. Over 20,000 dead Marines will thank you for it.

FAIL.

Kamikazees had nothing to do with the Battle of Iwo Jima.

So are you proud of what your country did? Are you proud of the fact that the Emperor and commanders totally exploited the people of that great country and taught them to sacrifice their lives for the vanity of the Emperor? Are you proud that your country attacked America, a peaceful nation, for the greed of the Emperor causing hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives to be lost?

If you were Kamakaze, then why are you still alive? Or did you come to your senses and realize giving up your life for the stupidity and vanity of your great leader was too high a cost? Good for you! There's hope for you yet!

Bom pessoal alguem ja assistiu A Conquista da Honra?

Vejam e entendam qual e o verdadeido segnificador da vida.
Sou um soldador do exercito Brasileiro do 2º Regimento Andrades Neves.

Lembranças a todos vocês.

hey man thanks ! im a filipino so thank you very much in participating in the liberation of my country from the Japanese ! may all WWII american veterans be bless by GOD !

My grandfather Joseph Mathis fought on Iwo with the 4th Marine Div, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines, G company. I am looking for anyone who has any information about his company or photos. Thanks. I also have photos of my grandfather with Don Thatcher from the 5th Marine Div and also Robert Seymour 3rd Mar div, 9th Marines for anyone seeking information on these Marines. Thanks

My grandfather Joseph Mathis fought on Iwo with the 4th Marine Div, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines, G company. I am looking for anyone who has any information about his company or photos. Thanks. I also have photos of my grandfather with Don Thatcher from the 5th Marine Div and also Robert Seymour 3rd Mar div, 9th Marines for anyone seeking information on these Marines. Thanks

im doing a thing on the Iwo jima idk what to do we have to have right 7 or 8 sens on it but idk what to do

I want to know about Sulphur Island, Raising the Flag, and the Two Flags.

How about you stop whining about a website that does not have all the information you want to plagiarize from and open a freaking book. There are plenty of valid books, and believe it or not other websites you can get information from about the battle.

My father was there as well and also knew them. Hs name was Fred N. Green corporal.

this is a very good site :D
and also there is a movie that is relating to this and now that i read thiis site the movie makes more sense now .. i believe the movie is called Tunnel Rats .

First I want to thank everyone that wrote about the sacrifices that they or their family went throught serving our country. People that are willing to serve our country, are the people that make this country the amazing country it is and I thank all of them from the bottom of my hear.

....Second thing, for all you people that think its funny to write headshot or this site makes me wet. I truly believe you should be shot in the Fuckin Head you assholes. You make me sick. This site is to honnor the people that serve our country!

I want to thank this website for everything. My granfather was one of the people to raise the first flag on Iwo Jima. He doesn't talk much about it, because of all the pain and gore he saw in those few days of hell. He knew Rene Gragnon and Ira Hayes. Ever since he saw The Flags of Our Fathers he has been more open about it. So I just wanted to let you know how I felt.
Thank you,
Andrew Dodd & Prv. James Dodd

thank you this website really helped me i got an A on my assignment

Robin,
I am sure your father was a very brave man and I am grateful for his service to our country. But you must have misunderstood him when he said that the Army was on Iwo prior to the Marines… because there were NO U.S. service men on Iwo Jima before the Marines landed on the 19th of February 1945.
LMG

this is amazing

I am a father of a U S soldier who just returned from Iraq....Nothing in the world can bring to reality how expensive freedom is than to see your son board an airplane headed for harms way! I WANT TO THANK ALL VETRANS FOR YOUR UNSELFISH SERVICE!

For all those out there wanting to know about Iwo Jima. The best book I ever read on the topic was published by Dial Press around the end of 1945. The US Marines on Iwo Jima by Raymond Henri, Jim G. Lucas, Keyes Beech, David K.Dempsey and Alvin M. Josephy Jr. The whole book tells the story of the battle, using mainly the radio transmissions and military records. It is a heartbreaking book to read for the relatives of those young Marines knowing what they were facing. It has not been reprinted. The only copies that I know of are from 1945.
For the young high school students and college students doing papers go to Borders most carry Iwo Jima by Bill D. Ross and Iwo Jima by Richard F. Newcomb. These two books will answer any questions you have.
To some of the individuals who send disrespectful comments on this site. My father and the many Marines he served with gave their lives, body parts, and best years of their young lives so YOU WOULD HAVE THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH YOU ENJOY AND ALL THE OTHERS. What you have and enjoy was earned by their blood and sweat!

One thing that may be hard to understand is how deeply this effected the men who fought there. The effects lasted a lifetime amoung the survivors. My father was on iwo jima and over 30 years later he would wake up screaming from the nightmares. Out of the 300+ men in his unit, only one came off that island without a major injury. My dad was wounded 3 times before he could not just wrap it up and fight on. The final would took his sight for the rest of his life. When he was sent to the hospital ship, he was told by the chaplain that he would not be going to surgery. The surgons needed to spend time on people who could be saved and not him. He was told he was going to die. It took 3 days of waiting, blind, with the dead and dying in the bottom of a ship before they realized he was not going to die and operated on him. He never showed anger over this event but understood that all were trying to save as many men as possible. He when on to live a full life and had 3 kids.

my uncle was in the south pacific...survived , made it home to start a new life , raise a family...never spoke for years of his experiences...never even told his wife...by day he was the funniest , sweetest man you ever met...everyone loved him...at night he lived it over again and again and again ...screaming nightmares...it finally killed him at too young an age...I was still too young to understand...my mother eventually found out from my grandfather, whom my uncle did open up to before he died ,that at one point my uncle's division was ordered to move forward , a marine who was with him as they moved out of there sand holes saw snipers and grabbed my uncle and pulled him down only to have his own head blown off in front of my uncle , saving his life...we don't know who this young man was who gave his life to save our uncle Wayne...I always wished we could tell this young man's mother and father about there son and what he was , but I'm sure they knew and were always very proud of there son...

Hi Wyatt,If I understood this right.You were in the fourth wave to go ashore that day?

ME GUSTA EL SITE

My Uncle who was in the Army was part of the secondary invasion of Iwo Jima. He was part of the artillery. He is gone now but this is what he has written to his daughter and son. After the Marines said they secured the island, the 106th infantry came in and finished mopping up. The Japanese were disorganized but still had lots of ammo. The island had lots of caves and they were sniping away from any place. They would pass up shooting a group and then kill one person standing in the same place. It took us a day and a half to get dug in and our artillery temporarily set up. We were sent to give the Marines artillery support. There were many dead bodies lying around both Japanese and Americans and the smell of death was every where. We were supposed to set up our permanent base on the north side of the island and lots of caves around it that the Marines hadn't cleared. These caves were honeycombed and well-organized. One opening would be sealed up and Japanese would run out of other openings. The Seabees came soon after we did and built a temporary airplane runway which helped with American bombing of Japan. There were frequent Japanese raids on us which lasted about five minutes. The Japanese made one last Bonzi raid on us but we had too much fire power for them. In about three weeks or so the Marines got clear across the island and their mission was accomplished. Bill named various Army men who were killed on the landing and the next few days. Bill was supposed to be discharged in June 1945 but had to stay until November because had there been no bombing of Japan, their unit was slated to fight on to Japan. He was thankful for President Truman's decision.

how do you know he witnessed the raising of the flag if he died before he returned????

I was in the 4th division,25th marines, as I remember I was in the 4th wave. I remember many of my friends that never made it up over the beach embanckment, when we did secure the beach area, the 4th turned right. I did not see the raising of the flag, as not many of us did.

I am german and know much about the history of WWII. It is always the same story, people are dying for some leaders. What Americans have done there and in Europe in WWII was great and we have always to say THANK YOU. We have to say it at first of course to Russians who liberated the most of Europe (to put it later in chains).
We have to honour the victims on all sides and also not every German soldier was a NAZI or a criminal, most of them went into this "adventure" without any knowledge.
But however the history has been during the past, we should never hate each other...

oh, i read about that! suicide planes also called , kamikazis , like, completley wrecked that ship! 123 people aboard that ship died after a bomb was dropped!

My dad, William White, was with the amphibious Navy and landed with the first wave of Marines on Iwo Jima. He was on LST 684 and was there for both flag raisings. He said that island was pure hell. I'm very proud of my father, EOW 06/05/2000

My childhood was spent with an Iwo Jima veteran, I heard the same old story every supper, over and over. I always wished to be in that battle, just for the thrill or to turn insane. Those ones who claim to be patriotics, heroistics or America, democracy, free world defenders already know that that there is a price to cover. And all of us, Iwo Jima related ones find it affordable. Long live LCT crews and teen age sailors!!!

Well I find this info somewhat useful. I lmstrobgly disagree with whoever said that the marines got all the glory and the army got nothing. Look people army navy marines air force coast guard national guard, did I miss any?? Well they all do the sand thing wich is protect our country. I am personally a fan if the Army myself but look. It does not matter which branch did it, the only thing thAt matters is that because of these wonderful men and women out there fighting for our freedom everyday... We have what we want. It sounds selfish but everyone is like that, all ecxept these brave people who do so much. I love our military !! 65thanniversary Iwo Jima tomorrow!! To think tha. I would never have known about iwo jima if it was not for Robbie( my talking walking encyclopedia) gad not told me. Now I feel bad!!

They needed the airstrips for the B 20's flying out of Saipan as an emergency strip. It saved hundreds of flyboys lives whose planes would not have gotten back to Saipan or Tinian or Guam.

so i need some help with getting primary resources...
any ideas?

who are the main leaders in both sides

YES THANK YOU FOR THIS WEBSITE I'm DOING A REPORT TO EXCEPT IT'S FOR LIT.

Thanks i really needed help for the Battle of Iwo Jima project!!

I ALSO AM DOING REPORT THANKS

"The Americans knew the Japanese were expecting them, but when the field officers saw the intelligence reports, they were astonished by how many guns were present on the island. Black dots representing coastal defense guns, fox holes, artillery emplacements, anti-tank guns, blockhouses, pillboxes, and all sorts of defenses covered the whole island. The American intelligence only detected the presence of 12,000 Japanese, and even at that grossly underestimated quantity, it was already going to be a most difficult landing. Captain Dave Severance of the United States Marine Corps commented that looking at the intelligence map "scared the hell out of [him]." To soften up the defenses, beginning on 8 Dec 1944, B-29 Superfortress and B-24 Liberator bombers began pounding the island. For 70 days, the US 7th Air Force dropped 5,800 tons of bombs on the little island in 2,700 sorties. Holland Smith, the Marines general in charge of the landing operation, knew that even the most impressive aerial bombings would not be enough, and requested 10 days of naval bombardment before his Marines struck the beaches. To his surprise and anger, the Navy rejected the request. "[D]ue to limitations on the availability of ships, difficulties of ammunition replacement, and the loss of surprise", the Navy said, made a prolonged bombardment impossible. Instead, the Navy would only provide a three-day bombardment. When the bombardment began on 16 Feb, Smith realized it was not even a full three-day bombardment. Visibility limitations due to weather led to only half-day bombardments on the first and third days. Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance told Smith that he regretted the Navy's inability to suit the Marines to the fullest, but the Marines should be able to "get away with it."

Dear Mr. Harvey.
I respecfully very much disagree with your view that the invasion of Iwo Jima was "a very stupid idea" from any point of view.

Your suggestion for a strategy of blockade of the island and "wait until the defenders starve" cannot possibly work in this 20th century era of modern warfare. The siege which you claimed "would have taken about the same amount of time as the battle and Victory achieved without a shot fired" could not occur due to the simple fact: Time.

Time was the essence here... America was racing against time. America needed badly a base for its bombers to land safely back from increasing raids to mainland Japan and to lay future ground for an invasion to Japan.

Anyway, the Americans were too confident with their invasion force strengths, experience in Saipan and arial bombardment to soften or annihilate any resistance from the Japanese.
Do refer to this link below:
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=12

The following excerpts are taken from it:

"The Americans knew the Japanese were expecting them, but when the field officers saw the intelligence reports, they were astonished by how many guns were present on the island. Black dots representing coastal defense guns, fox holes, artillery emplacements, anti-tank guns, blockhouses, pillboxes, and all sorts of defenses covered the whole island. The American intelligence only detected the presence of 12,000 Japanese, and even at that grossly underestimated quantity, it was already going to be a most difficult landing. Captain Dave Severance of the United States Marine Corps commented that looking at the intelligence map "scared the hell out of [him]." To soften up the defenses, beginning on 8 Dec 1944, B-29 Superfortress and B-24 Liberator bombers began pounding the island. For 70 days, the US 7th Air Force dropped 5,800 tons of bombs on the little island in 2,700 sorties. Holland Smith, the Marines general in charge of the landing operation, knew that even the most impressive aerial bombings would not be enough, and requested 10 days of naval bombardment before his Marines struck the beaches. To his surprise and anger, the Navy rejected the request. "[D]ue to limitations on the availability of ships, difficulties of ammunition replacement, and the loss of surprise", the Navy said, made a prolonged bombardment impossible. Instead, the Navy would only provide a three-day bombardment. When the bombardment began on 16 Feb, Smith realized it was not even a full three-day bombardment. Visibility limitations due to weather led to only half-day bombardments on the first and third days. Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance told Smith that he regretted the Navy's inability to suit the Marines to the fullest, but the Marines should be able to "get away with it."

I would like for any veteran of Iwo Jima to comment about their experiences. There seems to be a great deal of misinformation
about the order of battle, length of engagement, etc. Since WWII
veterans are passing so quickly, our oppurtunity to learn first
hand experiences get more precious every day. My father, a member
of General Pattons 3rd Army, told me of his experiences in the
relief of the embattled men of the 101st Airborne in and around The
Battle of the Bulge. To have lived through that awful winter and
conflict is something I have difficulty imagining. I have the highest regard for all of our servicemen and women. Any comments
or narratives will be greatly appreciated.
sincerely, John N. Kennedy 01/04/10

I found it frankly distasteful and unnecessary to see the famous picture of the flag raising being used by the striking BRITISH AIRWAYS cabin staff UNION in London called BASSA. Surely these people cannot in any way see themselves as fighting a just war ?
http://www.bassa.co.uk/BASSA/webpages/front.asp

I was in the Navy and landed with the marines on the first wave. We were suppossed to have the island secured in 3 days but it ended
in 29 days and I was on the island the whole time and saw the raising,of the flag twice. The Army camr on to the island near the end to take over for the Marines.
Pete

i have about every book i can find about Iwo Jima. I love the intensity... not being a person that likes the war cause i dont. but to kno what happened at that time and what actually happened kinda gives me excitment. Im 13 years old and I enjoy reading all about the facts of the war. if you would e-mail me back with some really entresting facts that you kno about the war I would love to kno about them.
Thank You
Just another Person
Alissa Luigs

My dad was a Sargent in the Army and was in Iwo Jima for some time before the Marines came in. He is the recipient of 7 Battle Stars. He was very upset that the Army never received any credit for their accomplishments. He was very angry that the Marines got all the glory putting up the Flag, when the army had been there long before. He felt that the Marines came in towards the end and received all the glory. I am looking for information on the Army in Iwo Jima.

I recently watched a documentary on Iwo Jima and it did not mention once about the Army being there and what those men had to endure. It only mentioned what the Marines did. All the Army men who fought and gave their lives have been forgotten.

My dad did not like to talk about the war much, but that was the one thing that he was proud of but hurt by at the same time.