Skip to main content
Like
Create new Glog
previous
next
Email share
492 views | 0 likes | 0 reposts
General Holland Smith
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Go Back to Home Page
=Japanese forces
=American forces
poster yourself
Battle of Iwo Jima
1882 - 1967
1891 - 1945
The Japanese had orders to: (1) not fight above ground (2) kill 10 men before dying (3) commit suicide
Americans started bombing Iwo island December 7, 1944 and did so for three months. It did little damage because the Japanese were hiding underground in tunnels more than 16 miles long.
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions stormed Iwo Island February 1945. One part of the 4th Marine Division went to capture Mount Suribachi, the rest of the troops went to capture the airfields.
(1) Iwo Jima provided a strategic place for the Americans to launch an attack.
(2) Iwo Jima was closer to Japan than the Mariana Islands, therefore allowing B-29 bombers which had been damaged over Japan to be repaired at the air base.
Why Iwo?
Five-star Fleet Admiral (1944), commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet (1941-45) and Pacific Ocean Area ('1942-1945)
1885-1966
Chester W. Nimitz
