The great battles of World War II -- Iowa Jima

After the Battle of Midway, by February, 1945, General McArthur's and Admiral Nimitz's plan of island hopping, to gain control of the Pacific, in route to an invasion of Japan, was proceeding in a positive manner. The methodical capture of the Philippine Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Marianas was working, though the Japanese Army and Navy, fiercely resisted at every little island. Now, barely 500 miles from the Japanese Mainland, Iwo Jima, a key island in the Bonin chain, one of the Volcanic Islands was the next objective of the American march to Tokyo.

In some ways, the capture of Iwo Jima was a controversial event. It was no longer considered an indispensable base for Army and Navy installations, but the island in American control was deemed desirable for the Air War. It would give American B-29 bombers, damaged by raids on the Japanese mainland, a place to land without having to return all the way to bases in the Marianas, plus the island's airfields could serve as a staging area for American escort fighter planes to protect B-29s on bombing raids on the Japanese homeland.

By this time American forces had regained complete air superiority over the Japanese, and with the American fleet firmly in control of that part of the Pacific, there was no hope of rescue for the Japanese troops left on Iwo Jima. Never-the-less, 23,000 Japanese Army and Navy troops, who were left on the island, were determined to hold the island at all costs.

The American invasion force consisted of three Marine Divisions. Their landing was preceded by an elaborate Air and Naval bombardment of the island---6,800 tons of bombs, 22,000 shells! But this battle was markedly different from the invasions of the islands already captured by the Americans. The Japanese had changed their battle plan. Instead of meeting the invasion as it came on shore, as they had done previously, at Iwo Jima the Japanese left the beaches undefended, choosing instead, to fight from a sophisticated network of 11 miles of tunnels, caves, dugouts and underground installations that were difficult to find, and even more difficult to destroy. That meant that the Marines had early success in the battle by quite easily gaining their initial beachhead. But then it took over one month of heavy fighting to secure the island. Except for the 1,083 Japanese taken captive, the entire garrison of 23,000 Japanese was wiped out. (Two Japanese defenders escaped capture and held out until 1951, when they finally surrendered to authorities.) American losses were also heavy---5,900 dead, 17,400 wounded.

For many years the Battle of Iwo Jima has raised fierce debate. Many have contended that the cost in American lives was not worth the questionable strategic benefit that the island in American hands afforded---that there were other islands, already secured, that could have served the same function. In the end authorities fall back on the fact that the island did provide a staging area for raids on the mainland. It did offer sanctuary for wounded planes returning from bombing raids, and perhaps, most of all, it did provide a blueprint of how the American invasion of Okinawa and the Japanese mainland would have to be conducted.

As with any major battle of the war, the Battle of Iwo Jima produced its share of heroes. One, who exemplifies the best of American heroism was Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone. John was the son of immigrant (from Italy) parents, one of 10 children. In 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, John enlisted in the Army and spent most of his three year enlistment in the Philippine Islands. He liked the Philippines, and after just a few months of being a civilian doing a series of odd jobs he joined the Marine Corps, believing this would be his best, and quickest ticket back to the Philippines. After the United States went to War, after the Pearl Harbor attack, Bastilone was sent to Guadalcanal, an island in the Solomons Group. He was serving there when the Japanese made their invasion. A Regiment of 3,000 Japanese soldiers attacked Basilone's machine gun company. After two days of relentless assault the Japanese had reduced Basilone's Company to just three men, but , thanks to Basilone, the enemy force facing them was virtually annihilated. Basilone used his pistol against the enemy when he and his two remaining mates ran out of machine gun ammunition. For his actions Basilone received the nation's highest award for valor, The Medal of Honor. In a statement to the committee investigating the incident, one of the two remaining Basilone comrades, Private First Class Nash Phillips, from North Carolina, remembered the Battle: "Basilone had a machine gun on the go for three days and nights, without sleep, rest, or food. He was in a good emplacement and caused the Japanese lots of trouble, not only with his machine gun, but with his pistol."

After the Guadalcanal battle Basilone was sent back to the United States for a tour promoting the buying of War Bonds. During this tour he married. But stateside duty was not for him, and at his own request, he was sent back to the Pacific Theater. He was a machine gun section leader with the first wave of Marines for the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Almost immediately Basilone's unit was pinned down by heavy fire from a Japanese Blockhouse. Alone, Basilone made his way to the side of the fortification, until he was directly on top of the blockhouse. From this vantage point he proceeded to single handedly destroy the blockhouse and its defending garrison with grenades and demolitions. Afterwards, when Basilone went to the aid of a tank crew, which was attacking Airfield #1 he was killed by shrapnel fire. For this action, he was awarded the second highest medal, the Navy Cross, for "extraordinary heroism in the face of the enemy."

Basilone is buried in Arlington Cemetery. He wife died in 1999. She never did remarry.

The Battle of Iwo Jima has become probably the best known of the World War II battles, because of the historic photo by Joe Rosenthal. Rosenthal was a civilian reporter/photographer traveling with the Marines, when he took his famous photo, on Feb. 23, 1945, four days after the Battle of Iwo Jima began. The photo depicts five Marines and one Navy Corpsman planting the Stars and Stripes on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Mt. Suribachi is hardly a mountain, but it is the highest point on the island of Iwo Jima. Mr. Rosenthal received the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, which has become the most famous photo to come out of World War II. It was to serve later as the guide for Felix de Weldon's very impressive sculpture for the Marine War Memorial, adjacent to Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.

Source: The Battle of Iwo Jima, History of World War II.