Iwo Jima slide show

[chadbag]

I got this in an email today. Don't know where it is originally from.

A few photos are somewhat graphic

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163373419677970

[tracker722]

******

[FlyAndFight]

Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing.

[Detective_D]

yeah....love reading the captions as well. Good find.
~D

[Erik 1]

Same here. Thanks!

[MarshallDodge]

Good stuff. Thank you for posting.

God bless our troops.

[snappy]

Some of the best pics I've seen from the era. Thanks E-

[Mark71]

Great pictures. Thanks for the link.

[SeriousStudent]

Pretty neat!

When I was on a float heading south from Okinawa to the PI, we stopped at Iwo Jima on the way back up north. We met some Coasties that ran the Loran station there. Pretty nice guys, too. They gave us a tour. It's an impressive sight, looking down from Suribachi on the rest of the island.

I think that was either the St. Louis or the Topeka we were on? Crap, so many ships, and so long ago.

Someplace I have a jar of black sand from one of the landing beaches.

It's a pretty humbling thing, to look the place over. So many Marines and Corpsmen died taking such a small island. Any time I met one of the vets from the Pacific, I am immensely polite and appreciative of what they did.

And this new crop fighting now, has the same stuff, and gets just as much respect from me.

Thanks for the link, Chad!

[d90king]

I got this in an email today. Don't know where it is originally from.

A few photos are somewhat graphic

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163373419677970

Some great pics. I wish I had copies... Thanks for posting them.

[FN in MT]

My Dad was one of those Marines who landed on Iwo Jima on D-Day. He stayed on the island until D plus 31 , when he came down with appendicitis.

We never talked much about his experiences there until almost fifty years later right before his death.

Some interesting facts about that battle... Officially named Operation Detachment.

When the Marines raised that flag on Mt Suribachi that was the first time a foreign flag was raised on Japanese soil.

Iwo Jima was the only USMC battle of WW2 where US casualties exceeded that of the enemy. We suffered ..... KIA 6,825 ..... Wounded 27,909 .

During the month long battle, twenty seven Marines and Navy sailors were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Twenty three Marines and three Sailors.

Those twenty seven MOH's accounted for 30% of ALL the MOH's awarded to Marines during all of WW2.

Semper Fi


FN in MT

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

How tall is Suribachi? From pics form the summit, it looks pretty tall, but from the ground, it looks a couple of hundred feet?

That is an impressive shot of the whole island, and it is basically one big military base.

[TY44934]

Thank you for the link.

I found it astounding that some Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima did not surrender until at least 1949 or possibly 1951 (from wikipedia with references):

"After Iwo Jima was declared secured, the Marines estimated there were no more than 300 Japanese left alive in the island's warren of caves and tunnels. In fact, there were close to 3,000. The Japanese bushido code of honor, coupled with effective propaganda which portrayed American G.I.'s as ruthless animals, prevented surrender for many Japanese soldiers. Those who could not bring themselves to commit suicide hid in the caves during the day and came out at night to prowl for provisions. Some did eventually surrender and were surprised that the Americans often received them with compassion, offering water, cigarettes, or coffee.[26] The last of these stragglers, two of Lieutenant Toshihiko Ohno's men, Yamakage Kufuku and Matsudo Linsoki, lasted six years without being caught and finally surrendered in 1951[27] (another source gives the date of surrender as January 6, 1949).[28]"

(note: there was also a case of a Japanese soldier in the Philippines holding out in the jungle until at least the 60s or 70s. I find such stories fascinating).


I first watched Clint's movie "Flags of our Fathers" and later, his other fictional work "Letters from Iwo Jima" - though my impression is that Clint tried very hard to make these films as historically accurate as practically possible (these were NOT documentaries nor were they so intended).

I thought both films were worth watching.

[tracker722]

Mount Suribachi is only 554 feet in elevation. 'Course if you were to ask any of the vets from that campaign, they would probably answer much higher.

[tibis3383]

Excellent pictures, and thank you for sharing.

Semper Fi

Tim

[SeriousStudent]

....

(note: there was also a case of a Japanese soldier in the Philippines holding out in the jungle until at least the 60s or 70s. I find such stories fascinating).


.......

I remember watching a news story on TV back in the 1960's. It was about a Japanese soldier surrendering on Guam. He still had his rifle, bayonet, and several rounds of ammunition.

IIRC, he was repatriated back to his family in Japan. He had been declared dead years before, like many others.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Mount Suribachi is only 554 feet in elevation. 'Course if you were to ask any of the vets from that campaign, they would probably answer much higher.

That's taller than I thought from the pics, but it must just be scale from the bottom. Not a lot of trees to guage it by.

[C-Fish]

I'll echo others...

Thanks for posting!

God Bless our Troops!