My son and I recently interviewed a IJ Survivor for a report he's doing and this question came up. He told us that they trained extensively in Hawaii. He was with the 5th so said they would train over and over again of going up a hill and turning left. I believed he said they trained about a year but I might be wrong. We video taped the interview so I would have to go back and look. This survivor was on the island 26 days and was wounded 3 times before being severly wounded.
70,000 US servicemen and 22,000 Japanese soldiers fought on Iwo Jima. All the Japanese died and 26,000 Marines died.
The two US Marines captured were : Ralph Ignatowski and Leonard Sokol .
Yes, there were thousands of United States military personnel at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
450 ships were at Iwo Jima (both US and Japanese).
The battle of Iwo Jima was basically Japan's last stand against the United States.The US had bombers that could hit Japan,however,they were being shot down by Japanese interceptors on Iwo Jima.The US sent in the Marines and Army Seabees(Army engineers who were working with the Marines) under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz.Japan's defenses were commanded by General Tadamachi Kuribayashi,who killed himself at the end of Iwo Jima after an unsuccessful "banzai" charge to attempt to take the 3 airfields back from American hands at the end of the battle.A very famous picture of Marines raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi was taken during Iwo Jima.The US did not wipe out the remainder of the garrison stationed there,what remained killed themselves.
US Marines .
Iwo Jima '45.
Japanese versus US Marines .
Feb/Mar 1945.
US Marines landed on the Japanese held island of Iwo Jima February 19 - March 26, 1945 .
The Marines raised the US flag on the top of Mt Suribachi in the Battle for Iwo Jima.
70,000 US Marines
The American flag was raised atop Mount Suribachi, on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945.
70,000 US servicemen and 22,000 Japanese soldiers fought on Iwo Jima. All the Japanese died and 26,000 Marines died.
WW2, the US Marines retake this island from the Japanese.
Iwo Jima..........................
Iwo Jima & Okinawa were both major battles where the Japanese fought US Marines in WW2 .