The Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle of Iwo Jima ran during a short period from February 19 - March 26, 1945 but had a significant impact on World War II. The battle led by Major General Harry Schmidt V with the dubbed Operation Detachment, which had the goal of capturing the entire island of Iwo Jima in order to obtain control over the Japanese-controlled airfields that included the South and Central Fields. This would be a big accomplishment to provide a stagnating area for attacks on the other main Japanese islands. Under the control of the U.S. forces, the capture of the island of Iwo Jima would serve as an emergency base for damaged airplanes landing and bombing raids. The Japanese knew the value of Iwo Jima to the Americans and created their own tactics to counter the upcoming invasion.
From the Japanese standpoint, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, had the goal of intercepting American forces and create as many casualties as he could with hopes to deter American trips from an actual invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi used the tactic of building of interconnected tunnels under the island of Iwo Jima that ran around eleven miles. He used the tactics of building tunnels because they were not visible to the air, which would give them the advantage of by being hidden. He focused his tunnels from the northern end of the island with a separate system that honeycombed the southern side at Mount Suribachi. This was done because Kuribayashi understood that by the time there was an actual invasion of Japan, the Japanese Naval army would not be able to provide much assistance. Under his command, he had around 22,000 armed forces.
The American troops continuously bombed the island for many days but it proved to have little. After realizing the lack of success, they deported the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions to the shore with the goal of capturing Mount Suribachi. When arriving to the beach, they were faced with little resistance but surprised with extreme firing of bunkers and guns coming from Mount Suribachi. There were many casualties for the Americans and in addition the volcanic ashy soil on the island did now allow them to dig foxholes to defend themselves. Though the American troops were able to work their way off the shore and neutralize the Japanese forces with armor, more gunfire, and aid from air forces. Then the most monumental of the battle was the raising of the flag on top of Mount Suribachi.
The American forces were eventually led to victory with the M4A3R3 Sherman tanks which was important for the win because it was able to clear the bunkers and hard to break down. The Japanese forces were declining but even fought to the last man, periodically using the tunnels to surprise the American forces and attack. But after weeks of fighting, the Americans were the clear winners and started to secure the island. Even then, there were 300 Japanese men that made a last attack but were defeated with the American troops.
The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the only battles in American history where the American casualties outnumbered the adversary. There were still around 3,000 men under the tunnel who either killed themselves or emerged to the surface to scavenge for food. From the battle around 6,821 American troops were killed and 19,217 injured. Although it was a victory of the U.S., the campaign became very questionable as to whether it was worth it to capture the island.
The American forces were eventually led to victory with the M4A3R3 Sherman tanks which was important for the win because it was able to clear the bunkers and hard to break down. The Japanese forces were declining but even fought to the last man, periodically using the tunnels to surprise the American forces and attack. But after weeks of fighting, the Americans were the clear winners and started to secure the island. Even then, there were 300 Japanese men that made a last attack but were defeated with the American troops.
The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the only battles in American history where the American casualties outnumbered the adversary. There were still around 3,000 men under the tunnel who either killed themselves or emerged to the surface to scavenge for food. From the battle around 6,821 American troops were killed and 19,217 injured. Although it was a victory of the U.S., the campaign became very questionable as to whether it was worth it to capture the island.