The Battle occurred in February of 1945 as part of World War II. The capture of the island was part of a three-point American plan. The main purpose
of the battle was to take control of the air strips so that the U.S could run bombing raids closer to the Japanese homeland. The commander of
the battle was a U.S.M.C. lieutenant General Holland "howling mad" Smith There was two very important strategical air fields on the island
American's wanted to gain control of these airfields and use them as emergency landing bases for damages planes during bombing raids.
These important airfields could also be used for American fighter planes to escort bombers. The United states Marine Corp used newly formed
amphibious assault. After Three days of fighting Marines captured Mount Suribachi and the real fighting ended on February 23. There were 4,189
U.S soldiers killed, 15,208 were injured, and 441 went missing. The number of enemy's killed far out did our own casualties, 22,000 japanese were
killed in the fight. This was the bloodiest battle in Marine Corp history.
Information courtesy of http://www.britannica.com/facts/11/800240/Iwo-Jima-Battle-of-as-discussed-in-World-War-II
Picture of the Iwo Jima flag coutesy of http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm
