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National NewsConservative News
Lessons from Iwo Jima
By Gary Palmer
Posted on: March 22, 2005
The young Marine watched helplessly as the suicide bomber rushed toward him. He did not even have time to shield himself from the blast that killed one of his buddies.
Though it sounds like the now familiar report from Fallujah, Baghdad, or Mosul, this scene unfolded on other distant soil… on Iwo Jima, 60 years ago.
Iwo Jima is a rocky, volcanic Pacific island, just between four and five miles long and two miles wide at its widest point, located about 650 miles south of Japan. Most people today think of the battle, which lasted from February 19th until March 26th, 1945, in the context of the famous World War II photograph of the Marines raising the American flag over the island's volcanic cone, Mt. Suribachi on the fourth day.
The American Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to take possession of the island because it was damaging U.S. efforts by giving the Japanese early warning of approaching U.S. bombers and allowing fighter planes from the island's airfields to intercept them. Taking Iwo Jima under control would take away this threat and give the U.S. access to the airfields that could be used by American bombers for emergency landings and for providing fighter escorts.
The initial U.S. military intelligence gathered on the enemy's strength on the island estimated the presence of no more than 11,000 Japanese troops and a battle of three to five days to secure it. This was a serious underestimation on both counts.
When the Marines landed on February 19th, they faced 22,000 Japanese troops fighting from an ingeniously designed system of tunnels and bunkers equipped with electrical power, water and ventilation, some of which were several stories below the surface of the ground. The underground labyrinth contained nearly 1,500 rooms designed for barracks, ammunition and supply storage as well as medical treatment.
The Marines were led by Alabama native, General Holland M. "Howling Mad" Smith. Gen. Smith, who had directed the successful Marine attacks against the Japanese at Tarawa, Eniwetok, Tinian, Siapan, and Guam, had another nickname…"The Patton of the Pacific." At Iwo Jima, Gen. Smith led the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions consisting of 72,000 Marines, the largest Marine combat force ever assembled. As these forces readied for battle, the Marines somberly contemplated what awaited them. It was well known that the Japanese considered surrender dishonorable, so everyone was prepared going into battle that the Japanese would fight to the last man. The Japanese commander, Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, gave his orders: every man was to fight to the death and kill at least 10 Americans before they died. But instead of mass banzai charges that the Marines had encountered in other battles, the Japanese fought from their system of tunnels and bunkers that honeycombed the island.
When the first wave of Marines hit the beaches they faced little resistance other than the loose, black volcanic sand that made walking or running extremely difficult and digging foxholes virtually impossible. Just before the second wave of Marines came ashore, the Japanese opened fire from concealed artillery, mortar and machine gun positions that were zeroed in on the landing and staging areas of the beaches. Every Marine on the island was in range of Japanese guns.
When the second and subsequent waves of Marines reached the beaches, they were confronted with scenes of death and destruction unlike anything any of them had ever experienced. Scores of bodies and body parts, destroyed vehicles and supplies were scattered across the blackened landscape. As one battalion commander described the battle, it was "…a graveyard for the dead and hell for the living."
What was supposed to be a three to five-day battle turned into a 37-day battle for survival. Progress in the battle was measured in feet and yards, and in the first two days the Marines suffered over 5,000 casualties. When President Roosevelt saw the casualty report for the first two days, he wept.
At its end, 19,000 Marine troops were wounded or missing in action and more than 6,800 had been killed. Total casualties were over a third of the Marines that fought in the battle. In fact, of all combat casualties suffered by the Marines in just over three years of combat, one-third occurred at Iwo Jima. The Japanese lost their entire garrison, over 20,000 killed and, surprisingly, over 1,000 Japanese troops surrendered. There were 27 Medals of Honor awarded for heroic service at Iwo Jima, more than for any other battle in the history of the Marines, one of which went to Platoon Sergeant Ross Franklin Gray from Marvel Valley, Alabama.
Sixty years ago U.S. troops fought and defeated a savage, fanatical enemy willing to fight to the death, much like the enemy our nation faces today. Iwo Jima epitomizes the will and courage of the American soldiers of the Greatest Generation to sacrifice and to persevere. The battle of Iwo Jima is a grim reminder that defending freedom demands much, and at times, requires everything.
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