Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima had started from February 19th 1945 and ended on March 26th, 1945 resulting in a victory of the Allied Powers. The United States fought the Japanese for the control of the island of Iwo Jima. This battle had created some aggressive fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War 2. The Japanese had prepared themselves with hidden artillery, vast bunkers, and underground tunnels that were as long as 18km. America was covered by air support, which was able to destroy big parts of the Japanese army with firepower. The Battle of Iwo Jima was the first American attack on the Japanese owned islands. Of the 18,000 Japanese soldiers fighting at the beginning of the war, 216 soldiers were taken as prisoners, and the other soldiers were probably killed or had gone missing. America’s mission was to capture two airfields on Iwo Jima. Japan’s defeat was assured from the start because America had possessed more artillery and firearms. A famous picture taken by Joe Rosenthal shows five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi during the 35-day battle period.