Battle of Iwo Jima
Importance of Iwo Jima
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Battle took place in February 1945, Part Of American 3 Point Plan to winning the war in the
far east.
Iwo Jima is a small Pacific island – just over 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide which lies at
the foot of the Bonin chain of islands, south of the main Japanese island of Honshu.
Iwo Jima had a great tactical importance to the United States. The Island had two airfields
under Japanese control and could be used to attack American bombers on their flight to Japan.
If under American control, the island could be used as an emergency landing base for
damaged airplanes in bombing raids
The Japanese knew the importance of the islands location and were determined to keep
control of it. Under the command of Lieutenant-General Kuribayashi, 22,000 solders
defended the island from United States invasion.
Seizing Iwo Jima
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Due to the small size of the island, options for launching attacks were extremely limited. In
fact, to do anything other than defend ferociously was nearly impossible.
Prior to landing on the island, America bombed Iwo Jima for more than two months led by
Admiral Raymond Spruance.
The First Day of the landings on Iwo Jima was February 19th 1945 and within the first day
alone America had cut the island in half and took over 2,400 casualties. On the 2nd day,
marines attacked Mount Suribachi and after three days of fighting with the Japanese, U.S.
Marines took over Suribachi on February 23rd.
By March 11th, The Americans had trapped the Japanese in the islands most northern
extremity, Kitano Point.
By March 16th the island was declared secure and by March 26th all resistance ceased.
It took American a little over one month on the island to gain control.
The Marines lost 6,891 men and 18,070 were wounded.
Battle of Okinawa
Facts and Motives
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Took place April 1945. Also part of the three-point plan the Americans had for winning the
war in the East.
More people died during the Battle of Okinawa than all those killed during the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Known as the bloodiest battle of the Pacific war with a total of 225,000 deaths.
The island of Okinawa is the largest among the Ryukyus islands located at the southern tip of
Japan.
Okinawa is roughly 60 miles long and between 2 and 18 miles wide.
Its location gave it strategic importance and possessed four airfields on the island that would
benefit America.
Japanese troops on the island were commanded by Lieutenant- General Ushijima who ordered
to hold onto the island at all costs.
The attack on Okinawa was scheduled for April 1st 1945.
The Battle
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In the days leading up to the invasion, the Americans had landed twenty miles southwest of
Hagushi Bay to secure an anchorage.
The American navy was severely attacked by Japanese Kamikaze pilots. Kamikaze, meaning
“divine wind” consisted of the Japanese Air Group the kamikaze unit in which men
volunteered to pilot air crafts that crashed into American warships in an effort to sink them.
Out of the 193 kamikaze plane attacks launched against the American fleet, 169 were
destroyed.
300 warships and 60,000 American military had landed at Hagushi Bay and by April 20th
resistance from the northern section of the island had been eliminated.
On April 4th the Battle of Okinawa took place in the southern part of the island when
American infantry divisions ran into the Machinato line, which brought a halt to American
advance. Meanwhile, kamikaze attacks sunk 21 warships and badly damaged 66.
Ushijima ordered counter attacks that failed and by May 21st ordered his troops to pull back
from defending the Shuri Line.
By June 2nd Okinawa was declared secure by Americans.
Ushijima had committed suicide days before.