I am working on typing a 5 pafe paper on the battle of Iwo Jima. I have it all finished, BUT I don't feel like I summed up the actual fighting of Iwo Jima from D-Day on. I think I did very good at summing up all the events leading up to it, the flag raising, and what happened after. Here is what I got. What do I need to add? At 2 am on the morning of February 19, battleship guns signaled the commencement of D-Day. Soon 100 bombers attacked the island, followed by another volley from the naval guns. At 8:30 am, Marines headed towards the shores of Iwo Jima. Their objective was to catch Mt. Suribachi. The Marines faced heavy fire from Suribachi. The island was made up of mostly rough volcanic ash which didn't allow the digging of foxholes. They were sitting ducks. By that evening, the mountain had been surrounded and 30,000 Marines had landed. About 40,000 more would follow. The climb up Suribachi was fought inch by inch. Gunfire didn't do much for the Americans, because the Japanese were down in foxholes. Flame throwers and grenades were able to clear the bunkers though. On February 23, the top of summit had been reached. The raising of the American flag that day proved an inspiration not only to the soldiers but to the U.S. for years to come.
Bob. Here is my critique of your post; it is mean t as constructive criticism. I tried to send it to you in a private message, but apparently you have chosen not to receive private messages from forum members. "Soon 100 bombers attacked the island,..." I think it was more than 100 bombers, and I believe they attacked in waves for several minutes, raising huge dust clouds over the island. "Marines headed towards the shores of Iwo Jima. Their objective was to catch Mt. Suribachi." Catch Mt. Suribachi? Was it running around loose? The word should be "capture" or "seize", or "secure". And that was only part of their objective; the ultimate goal of the invasion was to capture the entire island. Capturing Mt. Suribachi was only part of it. And raising the flag on the summit was only a token, the Marines still had to dig the Japanese out of the caves and bunkers dug into Suribachi's flanks. That job went on for several days after the flag had been raised on the summit. "The island was made up of mostly rough volcanic ash which didn't allow the digging of foxholes.... Gunfire didn't do much for the Americans, because the Japanese were down in foxholes." If the Marines couldn't dig foxholes, why could the Japanese? The Japanese weren't in foxholes so much as in caves and bunkers with camouflaged firing ports. The Japanese had dug into Mt. Suribachi and fortified the mountain like a multilevel castle. "On February 23, the top of summit had been reached." The words "top" and "summit" mean the same thing, the sentence is redundant, Hope this helps. Remember, the storming of Mt. Suribachi was a dramatic act, but the battle of Iwo Jima was far from over when the US flag was raised on Suribachi's peak. Many more men on both sides would die violently before the issue was decided.
Hard to sum it up when it was such a complex battle. For instance when the first platoon reached the summit on Suribachi two Japanese charged out of a cave at the platoon. After they killed them the cave was sealed a couple of the marines came back later looking for Souvenirs. They had to get gas masks to enter the cave as it was full of Japanese. Enough that they outnumbered the platoon by a significant number. Fatalism, bravery, tenacity, and courage along with lesser emotions were demonstrated aplenty on both sides. If you are putting pictures in your report adding one of the first flag raising would be worthwhile if you can find it.
I assume these are the sites you got that information from: Iwo Jima - The Land Battle and Battle of Iwo Jima - Japan's WWII History The battle lasted another month after the flag was raised on Suribachi. While the taking of Suribachi was key to the battle, the main objective was to capture the Airfields. Here are some sites you might find more informative: Battle for Iwo Jima, 1945 Iwo Jima - The Full Story Battle for Iwo Jima ::The Battle of Iwo Jima:: Brad
A couple of other thoughts... The fighting took place not so much on the mountain, in "Flags of Our Fathers" a must read if you want to understand the battle. It was more of a hike up the mountain as opposed to a fight. I may not be 100% on the quote but I remember thinking.. 'huh I always thought (Sgt Striker) John Wayne had a tough fight up that hill.' Devilsadvocate touched on the other things I noticed. Could you by chance post a bibliography for your paper?
The pre-landing naval bombardment at Iwo Jima under the command of Admiral Blandy opened up at 6:40 a.m. on the m0rning of February 19th involved the following ships and aircraft: EIGHT BATTLESHIPS Nevada, Texas, Arkansas, New York, Idaho, Tennessee, Washington, North Carolina FIVE CRUISERS Tuscaloosa, Salt Lake City, Vicksburg, Chester, Pensacola. DESTROYERS (Can’t find my list) ELEVEN ESCORT AIRCRAFT CARRIERS Makin Island, Sargent Bay, Wake Island, Petrof Bay, Steamer Bay, Lunga Point, Anzio, Bismark Sea, Saginaw Bay, Rudyard Bay, Natoma Bay A large number of other, smaller craft – LCI(R)’s’, LPD’s, etc. 120 fighters and bombers from the big Task Force 58 carriers also participated shortly before the landings.. The bombardment was mainly concentrated on the landing beach areas. vcs-ww2 . – .– .
In my previous post regarding pre-bombardment at Iwo Jima I neglected to include Admiral Blandy’s Command Ship USS Estes AGC-12
