Only 1,038 of the 21,000 Japanese defenders were captured alive.
On February 19, 1945, American forces invaded the tiny island of Iwo Jima to secure airstrips for American B-29 flyers. They encountered 21,000 well-entrenched Japanese defenders. It would take the Marines over a month of fighting over an inhospitable terrain to dig out and overtake the Japanese. When the battle ended on March 26, 1945, as many as 7,000 Americans were dead and 24,000 wounded. Almost 6,000 of those killed were U.S. Marines. Only 1,038 of the 21,000 Japanese defenders were captured alive. To the B-29 crewmen who would subsequently use Iwo Jima as a safe haven during their 3,000-mile bombing runs to Japan, gratitude to the Marines would be immeasurable.