Iwo Jima Operation, 1945
"H-Hour" on "D-Day": Waves of amphibious tractors (LVTs) approach the Iwo Jima invasion beaches in the first moments of the U.S. Marine amphibious assault on the island, 19 February 1945. Mount Suribachi is in the left center background. This image is cropped from Photo # 80-G-415308. Taken from an airplane flying over the invasion area, it was flown to Guam, transmitted by radio, and printed in an American newspaper within fifteen hours after it was made. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


Sixty-three years ago today, the largest armada invasion to date began on a small island in the Pacific.

Sixty-three years ago today, the black beaches of Iwo "ran red with blood."

It would be a battle that would prompt Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz (USN) to later say, "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."


Iwo Jima Links:
Iwo Jima Operation, February - March 1945 (navy.mil)
Iwo Jima.com
Battle of Iwo Jima - Wikipedia
Veterans honor those lost on Iwo Jima (Sign on San Diego)
U.S. Department of Defense Official Website - Battle for Iwo Jima

Labels: Iwo Jima, military history, photos, USMC, WWII

Labels: 4th Marine Division, Iwo Jima, photos, USMC, Veterans, WWII

Labels: Iwo Jima, USMC

Labels: Iwo Jima, photos, US Navy, USMC, USS Harpers Ferry

Labels: Iwo Jima, ships, USMC, USN, USS Harpers Ferry

Whatever you do, don't miss this (H/T to Seamus):

The New York Giant Who Died on Iwo Jima
W. Thomas Smith, Jr .

We’ve seen it countless times: The stirring photograph snapped 62-years-ago of five U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the second (larger than the first) American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima...

...What most Americans forget, however, is that the battle was far from over. Three of the six men who raised the flag on February 23, 1945 would soon be killed in action. And from February 19 through March 17, nearly 7,000 Americans would perish as they wrested control of the island from the enemy: most of those Americans unsung or a least unknown in general American culture...

...One of those Americans was 1st Lieutenant Andrew Jackson “Jack” Lummus Jr., a Texas-born Marine officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor (MOH) who was – and is – quite literally the epitome of all that is wrapped up in what it means to be a Marine...

Read the whole thing here, and have the kleenex ready.

The text of Lummus' Medal of Honor citation is here.

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima,
uncommon valor was a common virtue."
-- (Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, 16 March 1945.)

Labels: Fallen Heroes, Iwo Jima, tributes, USMC

This is the picture that most of us know:



As you may know, the picture above was a second flag.

In tribute to these brave men, here is a photo of the first flag raising:

Labels: Iwo Jima, Marines, tributes, USMC, WWII