What is the significance of iwo jima

Many people may see Iwo Jima as an unnecessary deadly battle but without it we may not have been able to win at Okinawa and successfully win the war.

Battle of Iwo Jima. Search this site. Image Gallery. Primary Accounts. The methods that both sides fought each other were incredibly brutal. While the stats are grim, Iwo Jima also resulted in the award of 27 Medal of Honor recipients.

This includes the badass John Basilone, who we wrote about, here. This is more than any other battle in history. Over 70, Marines landed on the shores of Iwo Jima. Though the fighting was savage, the US was able to take hold of the island, pushing Japan back. With so many Japanese forces lost, the Marines and Army would then regroup shortly after to take Okinawa.

Ultimately, Okinawa would be taken and Japan would get two atomic bombs dropped on them. How different would the outcome be? The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between U. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early Located miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of mainland Japan.

American forces invaded the island on February 19, , and the ensuing Battle of Iwo Jima lasted for five weeks. But once the fighting was over, the strategic value of Iwo Jima was called into question. This line of defenses included islands like Iwo Jima. Given this information, American military leaders planned an attack on the island that they believed would last no more than a few days.

Although Allied forces led by the Americans bombarded Iwo Jima with bombs dropped from the sky and heavy gunfire from ships positioned off the coast of the island, the strategy developed by Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi meant that the forces controlling it suffered little damage and were thus ready to repel the initial attack by the U. Marines, under the command of Holland M. On February 19, , U. Marines made an amphibious landing on Iwo Jima, and were met immediately with unforeseen challenges.

First and foremost, the beaches of the island were made up steep dunes of soft, gray volcanic ash, which made getting sturdy footing and passage for vehicles difficult. As the Marines struggled forward, the Japanese lied in wait. Within days, some 70, U. Marines landed on Iwo Jima. Although they significantly outnumbered their Japanese enemies on the island by a more than three-to-one margin , many Americans were wounded or killed over the five weeks of fighting, with some estimates suggesting more than 25, casualties, including nearly 7, deaths.

The Japanese, meanwhile, were also suffering major losses, and were running low on supplies—namely, weapons and food. Just four days into the fighting, U.