Iwo Jima
The Gateway to Japan
There were 26,821casualties. Six thousand of those American. 20,000 wounded.
The fighting began at 9:05 AM. The success of the entire assault depended upon the early capture of the grim smoldering rock known as mount Surubachi.
Why Iwo Iwo Jima was one of the two islands that held an air strip for bombing runs. A new air strip was in the middle of being built.
Iwo Jima became a place for emergency landings in the pacific and saved many lives by having taken the is land.