Iwo Jima

Philip A St John

Description

In the words of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, "Among the Americans who served in Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." This 50th Anniversary edition of Iwo Jima tells the story of these men with personal accounts and unbelievable photographs. The never-before-published narrative and maps cover the history of this battle from the sea, the air, and the land.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• Imperial Japanese Army
• Pacific Theatre
• Military
• Battle of Iwo Jima
• World War II
• History
• Iwo Jima
• 1945
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 mai 1995
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781618584670
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Turner Publishing Company Publishers of Military History P.O. Box 3101 Paducah, Kentucky 42002-3101
 
Co-published by Turner Publishing Company and Mark A. Thompson, Associate Publisher
 
Copyright © 1995 Turner Publishing Company
 
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of Turner Publishing Company.
 
The materials were compiled and produced using available information; Turner Publishing Company and Mark A. Thompson regret they cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.
 
Veterans of the Battle for Iwo Jima were invited to write and submit biographies for inclusion in this publication. Those found within the veteran chapter are from those who chose to participate. The biographies were printed as received, with only minor editing. The publishers regret they cannot accept responsibility for omissions or inaccuracies in this section. A special note regarding any reference to a Presidential Unit Citation. This citation is awarded to a unit and not specifically to an individual.
 
Author: Philip St. John, PhD. Graphic Designer: Elizabeth Dennis
 
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. : 95-60492
9781618584670
 
Printed in the United States of America
 
Limited Edition
 
Painting featured on cover is by Sgt. Tom Lovell, Leatherneck Magazine 1945.
Table of Contents
Title Page Copyright Page A TRIBUTE TO THE MEN WHO FOUGHT FOR IWO JIMA Acknowledgements The Battle for Iwo Jima
THE NEED THE PLAN THE OBJECTIVE THE DEFENDERS THE SOFTENING THE BOMBARDMENT THE INVASION FIFTH MARINE DIVISION ON IWO JIMA FOURTH MARINE DIVISION ON IWO JIMA THIRD MARINE DIVISION ON IWO JIMA THE COST AND REWARD Major Marine Units At Iwo Jima MEDALS OF HONOR AT IWO JIMA
Veterans of the Battle for Iwo Jima
Among the Americans who served on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
A TRIBUTE TO THE MEN WHO FOUGHT FOR IWO JIMA

Iwo Jima Memorial Sculptor Felix W. De Weldon
Felix de Weldon, born in Vienna, Austria in 1907, studied at Marchetti College in Vienna, graduating in 1925. Continuing his academic education at the University of Vienna’s Academy of Creative Arts and School of Architecture, he was granted M.A. and M.S. degrees in 1927 and a Ph.D. in 1929. He pursued further studies in Paris, Rome, Florence and Oxford.
In 1924, at the age of 17, he won his first national sculpture contest in Austria. De Weldon began exhibiting in Vienna and at the Paris Salon while still a student and quickly achieved international success. From 1933 to 1937 he maintained a studio in London. His work then brought him to the United States, and in 1945 he became an American citizen. In 1950 President Truman appointed him Chairman of the United States Fine Arts Commission. He was reappointed in 1955 and again in 1959.
De Weldon, one of the most distinguished and prolific of contemporary sculptors, has won many prizes and awards. His works in Washington include the United States Marine Corps War Memorial (the Iwo Jima Memorial), the statue of Admiral Richard E. Byrd on the Avenue of Heroes leading to Arlington National Cemetery, the indoor statue of Sam Rayburn at the Rayburn House Office Building, and the equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar near the Pan American Union Building.
De Weldon has recently completed a twelve-foot-tall, bronze bust of Elvis Presley for permanent display at Graceland, home of the King of rock and roll in Memphis, Tennessee. He is currently working on the monumental Chosin Few Korean War Memorial in California, a large monument to victims of AIDS, and the design for a World Peace Park.
Acknowledgements
It is with great pleasure that we introduce this second volume on the Battle for Iwo Jima, in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the battle. Capt. Bonnie Little said, “The Marines have a way of making you afraid; not of dying, but of not doing your job.” All the servicemen who fought to secure the island of Iwo Jima certainly did their jobs. “As In the history of warfare never have men struggled more valiantly, nor more violently, than at Iwo Jima,” wrote Thomas Howrigan. To the men of the US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Army, US Merchant Marines, US Coast Guard and the SeaBees, we owe our deepest gratitude for giving of themselves, heart and soul and in many cases their lives, in the courageous battle to overtake the island of Iwo Jima.
 
We especially want to thank Jim Westbrook and Iwo Jima Veterans Reunion for sponsoring this project and for seeing this volume II project through to its completion.
 
We wish to thank the following organizations for all their help with promoting this publication—3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Division Associations, Iwo Jima Survivors Association of New York, Iwo Jima Memorial Banquet Committee of California, Iwo Jima Survivors Association of Texas, and Iwo Jima Survivors of Connecticut. They were instrumental in seeing that their members had every opportunity to be a part of this special edition.
 
A special thanks goes to Dr. Philip A. St. John for compiling information and writing the manuscript. Without his expertise and diligence this project would not have come together as well as it did.
 
We are indebted to the many individuals who submitted photographs, biographies and additional historical material from which much information was ascertained.
 
Turner Publishing Company leads the way in military association history book publishing, and we hope that all will enjoy our newest title that chronicles the history of a most gallant battle and the intrepid men who fought there.
 
Dave Turner, President
Mark A.Thompson, Associate Publisher
The Battle for Iwo Jima
THE NEED
“...take an island in the Bonin or Volcano groups...”
On November 24, 1944, B-29s of the 20th Air Force flying from three islands in the Marianas (Tinian, Saipan, and Guam) joined other Superforts from China to strike at Japan. It was nearly a 3000-mile round trip from the Marianas for the big Boeing bombers but that was their forte; the huge, 65-ton, four-engine behemoths were designed to carry a four ton bomb load over long distances (3500 miles) with their eleven-man crews. The B-29s were pressurized and could fly at very high altitudes, well over 33,000 feet. The big bombers had been built specifically for the vast distances in the Pacific; it never saw combat in Europe.
It was a long, boring flight from the Marianas to Tokyo; the air crews were forced to fly near a desolate volcanic island (or fly a fuel-consuming dogleg course to avoid it) - Iwo Jima - almost exactly half way to their targets, and enemy fighters rose from the island to meet them both going to the target, and on their way back to base. Further, Iwo Jima was a warning outpost to the Japanese homeland, reporting the size of the formations, altitude, and their estimated time of arrival at the Japanese coastline. The home defenses - antiaircraft artillery and fighters - were always lying in wait having had plenty of time to prepare their defense. On the way home the B-29s would again have to fight off the Zeros from Iwo Jima. Many of the big Superfortresses were damaged over their targets and were strung out behind the returning formations - ‘easy meat’ for experienced Japanese fighter pilots.
To make things worse, the bombings were not yielding the hoped for results; Japanese military production was turning out planes, tanks and munitions almost unabated. So, beginning on 10 March of 1945, the B-29s turned to lower altitude (8,000 feet) night bombing with incendiaries. Eventually, eight hundred-plane formations would destroy the heart of Tokyo, and Yokahama was virtually obliterated by a single raid. In 15,000 sorties against 66 major cities over 100,000 tons of incendiaries set the Empire aflame.
But before these fire raids, the losses from fighters based in the home islands and on Iwo Jima, were becoming unacceptable. Soon after the fall of the Marianas it was clear that Iwo Jima would be a problem for the Mariana-based B-29s. The Air Force chief, General “Hap” Arnold, while fighting was still going on in the Marianas, had made it clear that Iwo was a thorn to his B-29s and the thorn had to be removed. He finally prevailed and in October of 1944 the decision was made to neutralize the Japanese forces on the tiny island or take them out of the war completely. With Iwo Jima in Allied hands, it was reasoned, the enemy threat to the B-29 formations would be eliminated, early warning of the raids on Japan would at least be reduced, American fighters could be based on Iwo to provide protection for the B-29s on their way to and from their targets and, of great importance, the island could serve as an emergency haven for crippled Superforts returning from their missions. This last proposed advantage was significant: the air crews of crippled airplanes often had a less than even chance of surviving a crash in the vast expanse of the Pacific. Iwo had to be taken. In the Fall of 1944, after two and one-half bloody years of assaulting one Japanese-held island after another, the wheels were set in motion for the most gigantic and most complex amphibious operation in the history the United States Marine Corps.
Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the famed Fifth Fleet, flew into San Francisco from Pearl Harbor that October and was joined by Admiral Raymond Spruance and Admiral Ernest King, the latter flying in from Washington, D.C. Captain Forrest Sherman, Nimitz’ chief of planning, presented a carefully worked out argument for an Iwo Jima / Okinawa thrust toward the Japanese home islands. King, representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, listened through the entire presentation and was not moved: the Joint Chiefs had already made the tentative decision that the way to Japan was through Formosa and China. Nimitz and Sherman marshaled virtually unassailable evidence that Iwo Jima and Okinawa would be the least costly route - in lives and time