Seventy-five years ago this week, the U.S. Marine Corps began the invasion of Iwo Jima. The tiny island in the Pacific Ocean was considered Japanese soil and fiercely guarded. The battle is said to have been the bloodiest in the war, and Iwo Jima had a monumental impact on the Marine Corps.
Bloodiest of battles
Iwo Jima is a tiny, 8-square mile island, about one-tenth the size of Catalina Island. Iwo Jima means “sulfer island” in Japanese and is 660 miles south of Tokyo. The Imperial Japanese Army used two airfields while constructing a third to intercept U.S. bombing runs of the Japanese home islands.
The Japanese heavily fortified the island with 11 miles of underground tunnels. The U.S. Armed Forces planned to take the island with more than 100,000 U.S. troops. The mission amassed the largest force of Marines, (70,000) in World War II.
Bombing raids of the island began in 1944 and lasted 74 days. Navy ships bombarded the island for 72 hours before the landing with little effect on the Japanese forces that were in underground bunkers.
Landing
More than 880 vessels were used and 30,000 Marines hit the beach. There were approximately 22,000 Japanese soldiers dug in and waiting. The fighting lasted for 36 days.
The toll
The Japanese lost their entire force with only a couple hundred captured. U.S. forces had 24,053 casualties and 6,140 dead. There was one dead for every three Marines that invaded.
“For every plot of ground the size of a football field, an average of more than one American and five Japanese were killed and five Americans wounded,” said military historian Norman Cooper.
Lasting impression
The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C., depicts a famous moment from Iwo Jima but is dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in defense of the country. Here’s how the sculpture came to be:
1. After the bloody beach landing, the Marines fought to capture the highest point on the island, Mount Suribachi. Once the Marines held the position, they raised a small flag on the morning of Feb. 23, which thrilled the troops.
2. Later that day a second, larger flag, was brought to the mountaintop. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shot this photo. Rosenthal’s photos eventually won the Pulitzer Prize.
3. Sculptor Felix de Weldon, in the Navy at the time, was inspired by Rosenthal’s photo. Weldon worked nonstop for three days to create the 3-foot-tall wax model. Weldon’s commanding officers sent the sculpture to Navy headquarters where it was met with great reception.
The monument was dedicated Nov. 10, 1954. Vice President Richard Nixon gave the dedicatory address and said the monument was “a symbol of the hopes and dreams of all Americans.”
“Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”— U.S. Adm. Chester Nimitz
The Marine Corps Memorial Statue
- The flag flies at full mast 24 hours a day and 365 days a year by presidential proclamation
- The flag pole is 60 feet long
- 20 tons of bronze
In 2016, the Marine Corps discovered it had misidentified one of the men in the statue. Here is the corrected list:
