Lost Evidence: Iwo Jima (You Tube)

There are five sections in this topic.

Around 500 ships and 250,000 men are readied for the assault on Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima was needed for its airfields, so damaged B-29s that had attacked Japan could land on the island.

There was an extensive bombardment of the island by battleships and planes.

Tunnels were dug and caves used to make the entire island a fortress. There were over 21,000 Japanese on the island.

The video then talks about the type of sand on the island which caused tanks to get stuck. The Japanese waited a hour until the beaches were full before opening artillery fire.

7

By the end of the first day, the Marines have cut off Mt. Suribachi from the rest of the island.

There were loads of Japanese pillboxes.

A photo of the action on the island. By the end of day three, over 4500 Americans have been killed or wounded.

The use of flamethrowers against the pillboxes was very, very important.

The first American flag raised at the top of Mt. Suribachi.

A larger flag took the first flag's place. By the end of the battle, over a month long, over 6000 Americans and over 20,000 Japanese have died. In the long run, the lives of over 22,000 American pilots and crewmen were saved by having the emergency landing strips.



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