Marine amphibious tractors burn after being hit by Japanese mortar shells during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. (U.S. Marine ...

As it turned out, the Japanese had heavily fortified the island and had a dense network of tunnels from which they could launch attacks ... the dominant geographical feature on Iwo Jima. “As I looked, ...

Iwo Jima means “sulfur island” in Japanese, and Japan’s imperial army had fortified its caves with tunnels and other defenses. The charred island smoldered. Its bluffs and beaches became a ...

Marines fighting on Iwo Jima scaled Mount Suribachi and worked ... who defended the island through a series of caves, tunnels and pillboxes. Yet the photo from four days into the battle remains ...

From May 1944, Lieutenant General Kuribayashi Tadamichi had been deputed to defend Iwo Jima, and he built a 21,000 strong garrison and a network of tunnels, gun sites and blockhouses (dug-in guard ...

One of World War II's most famous and lasting images is the photograph of U.S. Marines raising a flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Thousands of Americans died to gain control of this tiny island.

80 years ago, American and Japanese troops were locked in one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Pacific theatre in World War II: the Battle of Iwo Jima. The small island between the ...

The Battle of Iwo Jima raged from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945. About 27,000 men were killed, including 20,000 Japanese soldiers hiding in tunnels and burrowed in caves and pillboxes on the 8-square ...

Editor's note: Feb. 19, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima. In February 2020, Military Times interviewed Marine Corps veteran and Iwo Jima survivor Don Harris.