Battle for Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima literally means ‘Sulfur Island’. The Battle for Iwo Jima, also known as Operation Detachment, is known as the Bloodiest battle in American History. More than 100,000 soldiers were on an island less than one-third the size of Manhattan. For 36 days, this island would be one of the most populated 7.5 miles of land, on Earth.

Japan and the U.S. both treasured this prime piece of real estate in the Pacific Ocean. However, they both valued it for different reasons.

Japan had a proud 5000 year history. In those 500 centuries, no foreign army had successfully trod on Japanese soil.

The U.S. treasured the island for military reasons. Japan was often the recipient of powerful attack runs from the new B-29 long range bomber; however, America did not have any fighters with enough range to fly escort for these super fortresses. As a result, the huge, lumbering planes were often easy prey for Japanese fighter-interceptor attacks. Iwo Jima, with its three airfields, was a good place for the U.S. to place their escort planes. The island was also a haven for crippled bombers returning from attacks to Japan. But the battle for this military advantage would come at a cost. The battle was to be commanded by the great military minds in the Western Pacific at that time: Admiral Chester William Nimitz of the Navy, and General Holland Mcteiyre “Howlin’ Mad” Smith of the U.S. Marines versus Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi.

Kuribayashi was a brilliant military strategist. He recognized that, without possibility of resupply, reinforcement, naval support, or air support, he would not be able to hold Iwo Jima against the overwhelmingly superior military forces of the United States.

Kuribayashi had studied other American assaults carefully and decided not to contest seriously the Allied beach landings. Instead, defense of Iwo Jima would be fought almost entirely from underground. The Japanese honeycombed the island with more than 18 kilometers of tunnels, 5,000 caves, and pillboxes. Kuribayashi also instructed his troops that each man should kill ten of the enemy before dying.

Nimitz and Smith were a deadly combination. Smith had a record of Marine victories. His saying was “Wherever I set foot, the Marines are here to stay.” Nimitz was intelligent and knew how to command his troops.   He commanded the US Pacific fleet when it was involved in the battles at Coral Sea and Midway and is considered by many to have been an astute tactician and strategist.