Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was the bloodiest battle in US Marine Corps history and a preview of the human cost an invasion of the Japanese home islands would demand. The volcanic island, only 8 square miles, had been turned by 22,000 Japanese defenders into an underground fortress of bunkers and tunnels; the US Navy's preparatory bombardment, the longest of the Pacific War, barely dented it. Marines fought for 36 days in some of the most intense close-quarters combat of the war; the iconic photograph of six Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on 23 February became the most reproduced photograph of the twentieth century. American casualties were 6,800 killed and 19,000 wounded; of the 22,000 Japanese defenders, only 216 survived as prisoners. Admiral Nimitz said of his Marines that 'uncommon valor was a common virtue.' The battle demonstrated to American planners that an invasion of Kyushu might cost 250,000–500,000 American casualties — a calculation that weighed heavily in the decision to use the atomic bomb.
- Year: 1945 CE
- Category: Military
