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N0KFQ > TODAY 16.03.08 14:00l 53 Lines 2516 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 16
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
March 16, 1945
Fighting on Iwo Jima ends
On this day, the west Pacific volcanic island of Iwo Jima is
declared secured by the U.S. military after months of fiercely
fighting its Japanese defenders.
The Americans began applying pressure to the Japanese defense of
Iwo Jima in February 1944, when B-24 and B-25 bombers raided the
island for 74 days straight. It was the longest pre-invasion
bombardment of the war, necessary because of the extent to which
the Japanese--21,000 strong--fortified the island, above and
below ground, including a network of caves. Underwater demolition
teams ("frogmen") were dispatched by the Americans just before
the actual invasion to clear the shores of mines and any other
obstacles that could obstruct an invading force. In fact, the
Japanese mistook the frogmen for an invasion force and killed 170
of them.
The amphibious landings of Marines began the morning of February
19, 1945, as the secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal,
accompanied by journalists, surveyed the scene from a command
ship offshore. The Marines made their way onto the island--and
seven Japanese battalions opened fire, obliterating them. By that
evening, more than 550 Marines were dead and more than 1,800 were
wounded.
In the face of such fierce counterattack, the Americans
reconciled themselves to the fact that Iwo Jima could be taken
only one yard at a time. A key position on the island was Mt.
Suribachi, the center of the Japanese defense. The 28th Marine
Regiment closed in and around the base of the volcanic mountain
at the rate of 400 yards per day, employing flamethrowers,
grenades, and demolition charges against the Japanese that were
hidden in caves and pillboxes (low concrete emplacements for
machine-gun nests). Approximately 40 Marines finally began a
climb up the volcanic ash mountain, which was smoking from the
constant bombardment, and at 10 a.m. on February 23, a half-dozen
Marines raised an American flag at its peak, using a pipe as a
flag post. Two photographers caught a restaging of the flag
raising for posterity, creating one of the most reproduced images
of the war. With Mt. Suribachi claimed, one-third of Iwo Jima was
under American control.
On March 16, with a U.S. Navy military government established,
Iwo Jima was declared secured and the fighting over. When all was
done, more than 6,000 Marines died fighting for the island, along
with almost all the 21,000 Japanese soldiers trying to defend it.
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