In fact, the Twentieth Air Force lost more B-29s to enemy bomber raids from Iwo Jima than it did on any of its long-range forays over the Japanese homeland.

And Japanese bombers based on Iwo were an even graver threat. Since no American fighters had the вЂњlegвЂќвЂ to escort the Superfortresses to and from Japan, the B-29s were often at the mercy of fighter interceptors launched from IwoвЂ™s airstrips. B-29s based in Saipan and Tinian began striking targets in Japan in late 1944, but the strikes were not yet truly effective. The American seizure of the Marianas in mid-1944 brought the main Japanese home islands within range of the newly developed Boeing B-29 Superfortress of the Army Air Forces. Operational airfields represented valuable rungs in the strategic ladder leading to Tokyo. Iwo Jima was almost exactly halfway between the Marianas and the Japanese home island of Honshu. Planners on both sides could see the geographic reality. Meanwhile, the Japanese built airstrips for their own bombers and fighters on previously unoccupied Iwo Jima. But Formosa was huge, stoutly defended, and still a long stretch for bombing runs against the empire. Formosa was the longtime goal of the AmericansвЂ™ Central Pacific drive, once General Douglas MacArthur had recaptured the Philippines. Hilly, rocky, and generally barren, the island did not figure in the grand strategy of the Pacific for the first several years of the war. The island is about eight square miles, larger than Tarawa, but much smaller than Saipan or Guam. It is one of the Volcano Islands that extend east of Okinawa and roughly south of Japan itself. Iwo Jima means вЂњSulfur IslandвЂќ in Japanese. Marines suffered greater casualties than they inflicted on the Japanese defenders.ДЈ.) Lingering controversies over the high costs and disputed dividends of the Pyrrhic victory.Д¤.) An enduring tribute-now embodied in the worldвЂ™s largest bronze sculptureвЂ“to the fortitude of young Americans of all services who surpassed themselves under conditions we today can hardly imagine. The ensuing battle produced memorable results:ДЎ.) Thirty-six days of unremitting hell on a small, wretched, reeking island.Дў.) The only major battle in the Pacific War in which the U.S. Two well-armed antagonists had thereby set the stage for a violent confrontation close to JapanвЂ™s home waters.

His senior subordinates may have grumbled at this departure from tradition, but KuribayashiвЂ™s plan made intelligent use of IwoвЂ™s forbidding terrain and his troopsвЂ™ fighting skills. Kuribayashi figured if the garrison could maintain camouflage and fire discipline, husband its resources and exact disproportionate losses on the invaders, maybe the Americans would lose heart. Significantly, Japanese forces on Iwo Jima would defend the island in depth-from hidden interior positions, not at the waterвЂ™s edge-and they would eschew the massive, suicidal banzai attacks. He decided to junk the defensive tactics used by his predecessors in the ill-fated campaigns in the Gilberts, Marshalls and Marianas. Formerly a cavalry officer, Kuribayashi was a savvy fighter, one who could glean realistic lessons from previous combat disasters. Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi commanded the 21,000 troops on the island. But the Japanese had also benefited from the prolonged island campaigns in the Pacific. Seizing Iwo Jima would be tough, planners admitted, but the operation should be over in a week, maybe less.Д«y all logic, the force invading Iwo Jima should have prevailed, quickly and violently. SpruanceвЂs Fifth Fleet enjoyed total domination of air and sea around the small, sulfuric island, and the 74,000 Marines in the landing force would muster a healthy 3-to-1 preponderance over the garrison. The huge striking force was more experienced, better armed and more powerfully supported than any other offensive campaign to date in the Pacific War.

This particular amphibious assault was the ultimate вЂњstorm landing,вЂќ the Japanese phrase describing the American propensity for concentrating overwhelming force at the point of attack. The Battle of Iwo Jima represented to the Americans the pinnacle of forcible entry from the sea. вЂњI knew immediately we were in for one hell of a time.вЂќ вЂњYou couldвЂ™ve held up a cigarette and lit it on the stuff going by,вЂќ he recalled.

вЂњJumpinвЂ™ JoeвЂќ Chambers led his 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, across the first terrace on the right flank of the landing beaches, he encountered interlocking bands of automatic-weapons fire unlike anything he had faced in Tulagi or Saipan. The Japanese defending Iwo Jima on D-day displayed superb tactical discipline. 'In for One Hell of a Time': Bloody Sacrifice at the Battle of Iwo Jima Close

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