The Battle of Iwo Jima

U.S. History · APUSH · Pacific War, 1945

The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought from February 19 to March 26, 1945, was a major U.S. amphibious assault in the Pacific War. U.S. Marines attacked the Japanese-held volcanic island, about 750 miles south of Tokyo, to capture airfields that could support operations against Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s defenders used tunnels and fortified positions to resist the invasion. Iwo Jima fit the U.S. strategy of seizing selected islands to advance toward Japan. Its airfields later served as emergency landing sites for B-29 bombers and bases for fighter escorts. Nearly 7,000 Americans and most of the roughly 21,000 Japanese defenders died, illustrating the high cost of the Pacific campaign. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi became an enduring American symbol. The wartime documentary To the Shores of Iwo Jima (1945) offers a contemporary portrayal of the battle; later museum and television accounts examine its terrain, combat, and strategic significance.