Marines invade the volcanic island of Iwo Jima seeking a strategic staging area for a possible attack on Japan's mainland.
Fought 660 miles south of Tokyo, U.S. Marines invade the volcanic island of Iwo Jima seeking a strategic staging area for a possible attack on Japan's mainland. Weeks of bloody battle follow and while the Americans eventually gain control, 7,000 Marines are killed, with 20,000 wounded. All but 216 of 18,000 Japanese soldiers are killed. The island later serves as an emergency landing sight for B-29 bombers.