8/28/2023 0 Comments Flags of our fathers![]() Along with the fanatical defense of Okinawa, the Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima convinced the U.S. In their first goal, the Japanese were partially successful. Another goal was to delay the American bombing of the Japanese mainland However, the Japanese military held no illusions that the defenders of Iwo Jima would be able to defeat the Americans. This would leave the Emperor and the current Japanese government in control of the country. would decide not to invade the Japanese home islands, drop its demand for unconditional surrender, and enter into negotiations to end the war. ![]() On Iwo Jima, the primary goal of the Japanese military was to make the expected American victory so expensive in terms of lives and material, that the U.S. Japanese soldiers in WWII were expected to die for the Emperor rather than be taken a prisoner, especially when defending a part of the Japanese homeland. If the Americans occupied the island, it would be the first territory of the Japanese homeland to fall. While it was a sulphurous piece of rock where little grew and there was no source of water other than the rain, Iwo Jima was considered to be sacred Japanese soil. Iwo Jima was the outermost part of Japan proper, part of the district that included far-away Tokyo. The artillery and gun emplacements were designed by the commanding Japanese general, Tamachiko Kurabayashi, to catch the Marines in deadly cross-fires. The Japanese had also built eleven miles of interconnecting tunnels. These were both concealed and protected from U.S. the bombardment was virtually ineffective.ĭefending the island were 18,000 – 22,000 well-entrenched Japanese soldiers who had gone underground building command posts, sleeping areas, bunkers, and artillery positions. controlled the seas and the air around Iwo Jima and subjected the island to substantial pre-landing bombardment. committed some 80,000 Marines, more than 500 Navy ships, and hundreds of planes, an overwhelming force, to what was code-named “Operation Detachment.” The U.S. hands the airstrips on Iwo Jima would provide an emergency landing area for planes that were damaged or had mechanical problems on bombing runs to Japan. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the island was strategic because in U.S. The island would also provide a base for search and rescue operations for flyers who had to ditch their planes in the Pacific. There was also a radar station on Iwo Jima which provided the home islands with early warning of air raids by U.S. It contained airstrips from which it was feared that Japanese fighters could harass B-29 bombers on their way to Japan or stage air attacks on the B-29 bases as they had done from November 1944 through January 1945. ![]() Iwo Jima, literally “Sulfur Island,” was about mid-way between the Air Force bases in the Mariana Islands and the Japanese home islands. the Navy and the Army Air Force settled on Iwo Jima, a small volcanic island about 660 miles from Tokyo, as the next target for invasion. lives played out in the shadow of “the Photograph.” The movie explores the experiences of the six flag raisers in battle on Iwo Jima and the lives of the three who survived the fighting. To the flag raisers, the adulation they received was undeserved and the real heroes were their 6800 fellow Marines who died in the battle. The effort shown in the photograph was the struggle to lift a heavy metal flag-pole, not to defeat an enemy. There was no enemy resistance at that location and the flag was merely a replacement for the first U.S. However, for them, the act of raising the flag was not heroic at all. As the three Marines toured the country, they were idolized as heroes. They were ordered home to serve as the major attraction for a national campaign to sell war bonds. ![]() Only three of the flag raisers survived the carnage on Iwo Jima. The photograph evoked strong emotions in the American public and to this day serves as an iconic image of U.S. flag during the WWII battle for Iwo Jima. This is the story of six Marines photographed while raising a U.S. FICTION (SOAPS, DRAMAS, AND REALITY/SURVIVAL SHOW).FILM ADAPTATIONS OF NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, OR PLAYS.TALKING AND PLAYING WITH MOVIES: AGES 3-8.
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