From: Everette (194cbteng@bellsouth.net)
Date: Sun Feb 19 2006 - 06:09:13 PST
Flame on for I thought this was important - 1000s of MVs involved and
thousands of Marines and Navy gave their all on this pile of black sand
February 19
1945 Marines invade Iwo Jima
On this day, Operation Detachment, the U.S. Marines' invasion of Iwo Jima,
is launched. Iwo Jima was a barren Pacific island guarded by Japanese
artillery, but to American military minds, it was prime real estate on which
to build airfields to launch bombing raids against Japan, only 660 miles
away.
The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of the island
in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the island for 74 days.
It was the longest pre-invasion bombardment of the war, necessary because of
the extent to which the Japanese--21,000 strong--fortified the island, above
and below ground, including a network of caves. Underwater demolition teams
("frogmen") were dispatched by the Americans just before the actual
invasion. When the Japanese fired on the frogmen, they gave away many of
their "secret" gun positions.
The amphibious landings of Marines began the morning of February 19 as the
secretary of the navy, James Forrestal, accompanied by journalists, surveyed
the scene from a command ship offshore. As the Marines made their way onto
the island, seven Japanese battalions opened fire on them. By evening, more
than 550 Marines were dead and more than 1,800 were wounded. The capture of
Mount Suribachi, the highest point of the island and bastion of the Japanese
defense, took four more days and many more casualties. When the American
flag was finally raised on Iwo Jima, the memorable image was captured in a
famous photograph that later won the Pulitzer Prize.
Deo adiuvante
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