The Effects Of Iwo Jima

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

"At great cost, you'd take a hill to find then the same enemy suddenly on your flank or rear. The Japanese were not on Iwo Jima. They were in it!" (Colonel Thomas M. Fields). This is one of the many strategies the Japanese had to defeat the U.S. marines. This war was all about the strategies the U.S. had and Japan. Iwo Jima Was only four miles long, which made it hard for the U.S. to defeat their enemy. Iwo Jima wasn't just a cold bloody war, but a war that would change the outcome of World War II.

The United States sailed from Hawaii to Iwo Jima in forty days, and sent more Marines to Iwo Jima than any other battle. For the thirty-six days of the battle, Iwo Jima was one of the most populated. The island was one-third the size of Manhattan ("Iwo Jima"). Iwo Jima had no front lines for protection and only four miles long ( Cyril,"Iwo Jima") Initial carrier raids against Iwo Jima began June , 1944 (Chester ,"Battle for Iwo Jima").

February 19, 1945 was the day that 61,000 U.S. Marines poured onto Iwo Jima, with 22,000 Japanese defenders (Fackler, "Iwo Jima Journal..."). Iwo Jima was attacked by three Marine divisions, after elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment. They used 6,800 tons of bombs with 22,000 shells (Parados,"Battle of Iwo Jima"). After one day of action one-third of the island was controlled by the Marines (Chester, "Battle for Iwo Jima").

Iwo Jima was important to the United States. For the U.S. it was a step to the Japanese heartland and the end to the war (O’Brien, "Iwo Jima: A Remembrance"). The capture of Iwo Jima would provide an emergency landing strip for the planes, and long range bombing missions.It was America's desire to finally destroy Japanese merchant fleet so the Japanese mainland couldn't be supplied from food rich sectors of South East Asia. Capturing Iwo Jima was part of a three point plan for winning the war in the far east ("The battle of Iwo Jima").

From what I know about Iwo Jima the Japanese were up high on the hills of Iwo Jima waiting the arrival of the U.S. Marines. They had their guns and machinery pointed upon the Marines coming ashore. The weather conditions affected the bombardment, the Marines had planed. With the volcanic sand made it near impossible for the Marines to move fast. That is when the Japanese took attack (Nimitz, "Battle for Iwo Jima"). With all the heavy fire it made it impossible to land men in orderly manner. This brought about confusion on the island ("Iwo Jima".)

There were many strategies that Japan used to try and win the war. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi led the Japanese into battle. His strategies were marvels in the history of warfare. To defeat their enemy, Japan used unique fighting tactics. Japanese didn’t fight above ground, during the battle of Iwo Jima. Their main strategy was no survivors, they planned on not surviving. For every Japanese they were supposed to kill ten Marines, before they died.They dug tunnels with 1,500 rooms, into rock. ("The Battle of Iwo Jima"). General Tadamichi Kuribayashi concentrated his forces with caves , concrete blockhouses, and pill boxes. (Nimitz, "Battle for Iwo Jima").

Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest war and final campaign of World War II . There were 21,925 Japanese dead on or near Iwo Jima with 1,023 survivors.(Fackler, "Iwo Jima journal..") About 1,600 Japanese surrendered with 800 deaths. The first day of the Marines suffered about 2,420 casualties with 500 dead (Smith, XVI). The U.S. lost 5,900 and 17,400 wounded (Prados,"Battle of Iwo Jima"). The Japanese only took 212 prisoners ("The Battle of Iwo Jima"). Capti Haynes recalls only 600 able to stand at the end of the war (O’Brien, "Iwo Jima: A Remembrance").

The War ended on March 26, 1945. February 23 a flag was placed on Mount. Suribachi. The flag was a symbol for the struggling men below to give them strength (Chester, "Battle for Iwo Jima"). There were scream of joy and bells ringing, this gave them hope (Buel, 101). The famous picture of the men putting the flag up was taken by Joe Rosenthal. Even though his camera got shot at and the camera got ruined the roll of film was safe. The image is replicated on stamps and is a memorial statue at the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery (Prados, "Battle of Iwo Jima").

Iwo Jima showed how far the Japanese would go to defend their land and this influenced Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs (The Battle of Iwo Jima"). In June 2007, Japan announced the change of name of Iwo Jima. They changed it back the original name of Iwo To. The island was returned to Japan in 1968 (Smith). Every inch was battleground (O’Brien, "Iwo Jima: A Remembrance").

Iwo Jima impacted the way live today. Because we won the war of Iwo Jima, it gave was extra ground to put our planes and a safe ground incase of an emergency. If the Japanese would have taken control of the island it would have put our bombers in danger and wouldn’t provide that extra land. With killing almost all the Japanese, on Iwo Jima, that took a chunk out of the rest of the defenders for the finish of World War II. Even though we sent more Marines to Iwo Jima than any other battle, the loss was less significant ("Iwo Jima")

A popular myth that was told about Iwo Jima was about the statue with the men putting up the flag. There is said to have a thirtieth hand on the statue and there was only six men. The extra hand was to symbolize God. This myth is told to be wrong ("We Love D.C.). The popular picture of the men was a popular story that came out after the war. When putting up the flag up three of the six men were killed putting the flag up ("Iwo Jima Flag Raiser"). These men put their lives in danger to put hope back in the Marines. Those men are heroes.

People should care about the battle of Iwo Jima. It was a big key in winning the the World War II. If it wasn’t for the hearoes of the battle the outcome of World War II was change everything. Everything was a big key in Iwo Jima. We wouldn’t have cut off their supplies they lived on. I believe putting up the flag was a great key in the win. It gave them hope and strength.