Battle of Iwo Jima - Complete Animated Documentary

foreign [Music] formation of B-29 super Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bomber fly high above the Pacific Ocean on the 8th of December 1944. the habits approach the next objective in America's island hopping campaign towards Imperial Japan super fortresses and liberators drop thousands of tons of Munitions cratering the dark volcanic landscape their target an island with black sand that one Aviator comments looks like a burnt pork chop in the middle of the ocean offers only light anti-aircraft fire from its Defenders this raid is just the first of 74 consecutive bombing missions against the small island which has an area of only eight square miles in three months time this island will become the setting for one of the most ferocious battles of the second world war its name is Iwo Jima two months earlier the military might of the United States begins to wear down the Japanese defense of the Philippines With Victory imminent Admiral Chester Nimitz starts to turn his attention to Iwo Jima the small volcanic island has two airfields and lies directly in the path of the American strategic bombing campaign against the Japanese mainland Japanese fighters from Iwo Jima harass B-29 formations and bombers based there have been raiding newly conquered Islands to the east Admiral Nimitz wants to eliminate this threat once and for all before the impending invasion of Okinawa on the 9th of November Nimitz informs Lieutenant General Holland Smith commander of the fleet Marine force that he will command operation Detachment the storming of Iwo Jima once he has been briefed on Detachment Nimitz remarks well this will be easy the Japanese will surrender Iwo Jima without a fight storming the small volcanic islands seems like a simple proposition there is no fresh water and reconnaissance flights notice there are no buildings for housing soldiers on the black landscape It is believed there are only 12 000 weakened Japanese troops defending the island Nimitz is confident they will be overcome in a matter of days on the 15th of February 1945 an armada of over 600 warships and transports depart the Marianas Islands carrying three divisions of 70 000 Marines on route to Iwo Jima the Marines have been told they are heading to Island X the 70-mile long American Fleet will arrive off the shores of Iwo Jima the following day in fact the Japanese have no intention of letting the island fall to the Americans without a fight Iwo Jima is part of the Tokyo prefecture and thus part of Japan itself so it must be defended to the last man to see this Mission through Lieutenant General tadamichi kuri bayashi is dispatched to Iwo Jima with the 109th Infantry Division before he left karibayashi was given a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito who impressed upon the general the importance of his task kareebayoshi understands that he has been given a Deadly Mission but he intends to inflict as many casualties on the Americans as possible he is set about turning Iwo Jima into a fortress American planners significantly underestimate Japanese strength on the island karibayashi has 22 000 men rather than the estimated twelve thousand The Defenders have tunneled into the island throughout the winter awaiting the coming Onslaught from fortified bunkers and block houses arriving on the 16th after their long Voyage from the Marianas Islands the U.S Navy sets about softening up the island defensives with a massive Naval bombardment The Barrage by Navy warships will attempt to destroy and degrade defensive fortifications before the third fourth and fifth Marine divisions stormed the island on February 19th there are 724 priority targets marked for Destruction by six battleships four heavy Cruisers and one light Cruiser along with dozens of Destroyers among them are the battleships Nevada and Tennessee survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into the war who reigned 14 inch shells on Iwo Jima despite the display of Firepower the Japanese Defenders fire back with 120 millimeter guns whenever an American ship Strays too close to the shore two days before the Landing Tennessee and the cruiser Pensacola are hit by enemy fire killing or wounding 115 aboard the Pensacola meanwhile over 120 fighter bombers from Fleet and escort carriers carry out 612 sorties attacking any Targets of opportunity however the 10-day bombardment requested by General Smith is cut down to just three Smith is furious after being told that the Navy is reluctant to expend more Munitions than necessary with Naval Intelligence Officers believing the island defenses have already been neutralized by the 74 days of happy bombing to make matters worse poor weather hampers the bombardment by preventing reconnaissance aircraft from relaying accurate target coordinates to the warships by D-Day the Navy has provided a mere one and a half days of heavy bombardment despite promising three it will prove to be a costly mistake at dawn on the 19th of February 1945 the first Marine vessels begin loading men and supplies for the trip to the beach while the final bombardment intensifies the first wave will be spearheaded by the 482 amphibious tractors the Marines simply call amtraks which can sail through the water like a boat and then drive up onto the beach providing fire supports with a 75 millimeter gun along with two 50 caliber machine guns because of Iwo jimastography there is only one beach which can accommodate the landing it is directly under mount surabarchi an extinct volcano at the southern tip of the island one of the first objectives on D-Day is to isolate the heavily fortified Mountain before capturing it the 28th Regiment of the fifth Marine division is given the task of Dashing across Iwo Jima and cutting off Mount suribachi in the center the Marine's objective is to capture Iwo jima's Southern Airfield by the end of the first day to the north the 25th regiment must clear out a rock quarry which holds a commanding view of the northern Landing beaches the Marines have been served a gourmet D-Day breakfast of steak and eggs before boarding their landing craft to many men the Black Island on the horizon gives them a foreboding sense of impending doom Corman Vernon Parish in the 28th regiment recalled and was petrified when we got into those amtraks I was new to battle but I could sense that even the veterans were scared once fully loaded the landing craft set out for the beach while the naval gunfire and aerial bombardment of Iwo Jima intensifies nine landing craft infantry or LCI rocket ships move into position and launch 9500 5-inch spin stabilized Rockets towards the island while the bombardment ships moved to within 2500 yards of the shoreline they have been reinforced with the 16-inch guns of the newer battleships Washington and North Carolina who add to the hail of Fire the naval bombardment briefly lifts to allow the aircraft from the carrier Force to pound the island with Napalm and conventional bombs one last time watching the incredible display of Firepower from an approaching Amtrak an incredulous Marine asks his comrades do you think there will be any Japanese left for us lifts just before the first amtraks hit the shoreline the first Marine Amtrak lands at 8 59 am one minute ahead of schedule the initial waves do not come under Fire the Marines wonder if the preliminary bombardment actually did Wipe Out the Japanese Garrison and signaled the rest of the landing craft to come ashore in fact this plays directly into Curry bayashi's battle plan the Japanese Commander intends to let the Landing Beach fill up with vehicles and Men before unleashing his carefully hidden Firepower The Landing continues unopposed while concealed Japanese gun emplacements wait for the order to open up with everything they have at 9 45 AM Easy Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 28th Marine regiment comes ashore under the shadow of Mount surabarchi led by Captain Dave Severance they fan out to support the advance inland shortly after Easy Company arrives on the beach karibayashi is satisfied that his killing zone is full of Americans and gives the order to open fire Lieutenant Keith Wells are the third platoon in Easy looks up to see siribachi turned into what looks like a Christmas tree with blinking lights a hurricane of artillery and machine gun fire lands on the congested Invasion Beach the first few minutes Under Fire are chaotic the Japanese have constructed over 750 defensive emplacements since the beginning of 1943. most of these strong points are connected by 17 miles of underground tunnels allowing the Defenders to move from position to position without exposing themselves to enemy fire some artillery emplacements have been concealed and fitted with steel doors that can be closed when the gun crew needs to reload minimizing the chance of American counterfire hitting their targets these concealed gun positions cause massive casualties on The Invasion Beach where there is no cover for the Marines Joe Rosenthal is an Associated Press photographer who lands with the first wave he later recalls that avoiding getting hit during the initial bombardment was like running through rain and not getting wet to make matters worse Naval planners have assumed from reconnaissance photos that The Invasion Beach is flat and will be easy to clear instead the Marines find themselves facing 15-foot High sand embankments impossible for vehicles to climb with tanks and other tracked Vehicles bogging down in the fine volcanic sand the Marines must continue forward on foot without armored support Engineers known as Seabees are dispatched to clear paths through the embankments with tractors Japanese artillery fire zeros and on the Seabees and despite taking heavy casualties the engineers perform courageously and manage to clear causeways for the tracked vehicles to move through despite the heavy enemy fire able company of the 28th Marine regiment have made a dangerous charge across the southern neck of the island at 10 35 am they reached the western shore of Iwo Jima successfully cutting off Mount suribachi they are quickly reinforced by Sherman tanks of the fourth tank Battalion who sealed the ring around the extinct volcano Easy Company moves quickly to reinforce the Breakthrough in the center the 27th Marine regiment is being decimated by Machine Gun fire from concealed bunkers ahead of them Charlie Company of the first Battalion is pinned down short of the Airfield when Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone makes a break for the nearest bunker Manila John Barcelona is a Marine Corps Legend having been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Guadalcanal campaign after being recalled from active service to sell war bonds on a publicity tour Barcelona has requested to return to the front he intends to make the most of his opportunity Barcelona has sprinted from the cover of a sand embankment through heavy enemy fire and flanks around the side of the bunker he tosses a satchel charge through the firing Port followed by grenades to neutralize the Japanese strong point with the machine gun out of action the rest of the Marines move up to the Airfield Barcelona spots a Sherman tank that has made it off the beach but is stuck in a Minefield under heavy enemy fire he runs to the tank and attempts to guide it out of the minefield despite artillery and mortar shells falling around him he successfully leads the tank to safety and returns to his men still pinned down on the edge of the Airfield Barcelona gathers his men and shouts come on you guys we gotta get these guns off the beach he and his men charge across the Airfield to attack an enemy strong point as he Sprints across the open ground John Basilone is cut down by Machine Gun fire and is killed instantly he will be posthumously awarded the Navy cross becoming the only Marine to receive the United States two highest awards for gallantry however words that John gottet makes its way through the ranks a shaken Marines realize that Iwo Jima is no ordinary battle on the northernmost Landing Beach Third Battalion of the 25th Marine regiment is taking horrendous losses from the rock quarry the first Japanese artillery barrage killed every man in the Shore Fire Control party meaning Lieutenant Colonel Justice Chambers cannot direct Naval gunfire against dog in Japanese positions his men are forced to scale the sheer Cliffs of the quarry without any supporting artillery they somehow managed to clear the first Terrace only to run into a wall of fire from cave entrances blasted into the side of the Quarry the Japanese troops are using 320 millimeter spigot mortars on the Marine stuck in the Quarry a weapon the Americans have not encountered in large numbers before the motors fire 600 pound rocket bombs that explode and create massive eight-foot craters in the ground the Marines watch as the massive projectiles arched through the air toward their positions the mortar rounds will be nicknamed flying Ash cans the attack comes to a halt as men desperately search for cover Lieutenant Colonel Chambers radios to General Holland that his men are catching all hell from the Quarry and need support as soon as possible but to no avail the warships cannot support the Marines without accurate coordinates and their suffering will continue throughout D-Day of the 900 men who landed on the beach with Third Battalion in the morning only 150 are left by 2PM mercifully the battle winds down as night falls over Iwo Jima The Invasion Beach is a scene of Devastation with burning Vehicles littering the shoreline there are too many wounded men to evacuate all at once and hundreds will continue to suffer through the night the forward Marine positions dig in and are met with an eerie and uneasy silence General Curry bayashi has expressly forbidden Banzai charges he wants his men to stay alive as long as possible to inflict maximum harm on the Invaders his plan for a nutritional battle has already seen results at the end of D-Day the Marines have suffered 2 420 casualties including 548 killed in action this number represents over half of the total casualties taken during the entire six month long waddle Canal campaign at the White House President Roosevelt openly gasps in horror at a casualty list for the first time in the war daybreaks on D plus 1 to reveal cold rain and Gusty winds the remnants of the Third Battalion of the 25th Marines at the rock quarry have been reinforced by first Battalion of the 24th Marine regiment the attack begins Anew at 8 30 am this time with concentrated fire support from the 16-inch guns of the battleship USS Washington a landslide is triggered by the shelling which buries multiple Japanese emplacements under an avalanche of Rock and Sand unlike the previous day both Marine battalions make steady progress as they Advance undercover from Washington's main batteries meanwhile the three thousand men of the 28th Marine regiment under the command of Colonel Harry liversidge prepared to clear the base of Mount suribachi American destroyers and artillery half tracks blast the mountain before the attack but the shelling has little impact on the Defenders who patiently awaits the Marines from their tunnels and caves at 8 30 am Colonel liversage gives the order to attack and the 28th Marines Advance towards the imposing Mountain the assault quickly bogs down by 9 am they have only made 75 yards and liversidge orders reinforcements into the battle Easy Company of the 3rd Battalion moves to the front to support the attack once at the Mountain Base easy comes under Japanese fire leader of second platoon Lieutenant Ed Pennell spots five wounded men pinned down by enemy machine gun fire Sprints back to a column of Sherman tanks just behind the line he grabs the phone on the side of the lead Sherman and convinces the tank crew to follow him back to the wounded men the tank provides covering fire at the base of the mountain while panel along with Mike strank harlon block Ira Hayes and Franklin sously take turns carrying the wounded men back to safety for his actions Pennell will be awarded the Navy cross however the Marines will only be able to advance another 100 yards at Mount surabati before nightfall in the north the men of the first Battalion of the 24th Marines are finally advancing in the Quarry after hard fighting throughout the day but just as they are about to break through the final Cliffside a friendly Corsair targets them by accident and 11 men are killed by Machine Gun fire after the fighter flies off a sergeant shouts to his men holy hell how did that happen and are any of you still alive almost immediately a naval gunfire Salvo from an unidentified ship lands among the men seeking cover against the Quarry walls the two unlucky mistakes proved devastating for the Marines first Battalion loses 101 men in a matter of minutes and can no longer carry on with their assault as d-plus 1 draws to a close the Americans have secured a quarter of Iwo Jima at Great cost The Landing Beach is still under enemy fire from Mount suribachi adding to the misery for the rows of wounded men stranded on the island however there has been tangible progress the southern Airfield is now in American hands with their relatively Swift Advance surprising General Curry bayashi furthermore the Marine infantry has gained a tenuous foothold at the Rock Quarry but most importantly the 28th Marines are in a position to begin their final assault on Mount suribachi the following day Colonel liversidge will ask for every bomber and heavy gun in the fleet to pound the extinct volcano before his men attack a 7 30 am on d-plus 2 of The Assault on Iwo Jima an earth-shaking artillery barrage begins Naval guns Marine artillery and tanks bombard Japanese positions on Mount suribachi the 28th Marine Regiment of the 5th Marine division is to assault the volcano at 8am the 28th Commander Colonel Harry liversidge is unsatisfied despite the heavy volume of fire and shouts at his operations officer ask for all of it 40 corsairs from task force 51's carriers dive in on the mountain firing rockets and dropping Napalm on suspected enemy positions while the Marines anxiously wait in their foxholes today will be the big push to capture the Japanese stronghold which has been marked as a priority objective however at 8 am there is no order to advance Marine officers look up from their watches with nervous faces as the artillery fire slackens livesig has been promised Sherman tanks to support his advance but they have been delayed by harassing mortar fire and traffic jams on the beach he has no choice but to wait on the mountain the 2000 Japanese Defenders emerge from carefully concealed caves and tunnels to reman their defensive positions every second the Marines do not attack gives the enemy more time to prepare for the onslaught ahead it's the third day of the battle on Iwo Jima the first two have been brutal with submarine units suffering 83 casualties during the initial Advance inland in the center the southern Airfield has been captured and Engineers are brought in to repair the landing strip in the East the rock quarry which has decimated the 24th and 25th Marine regiments is finally on the verge of falling however all eyes will be on the Southwest where the climactic battle for Mount suribachi is about to begin Colonel liversidge continues to hold out hope that his promised armor will show up but by 8 30 am he can wait no longer the order goes out to begin the assault the U.S Marines charge out of their foxholes and begin to climb up Mount suribachi under heavy fire the fighting is brutal and Close Quarters most of the way up the mountain as they climb higher many American units are given a nasty shock when they suddenly find themselves under attack from behind the Japanese positions are interconnected by Subterranean tunnels meaning they can be reoccupied by the Defenders after the Marines think they have neutralized the threat the Marines counter this with flamethrower units whose Grim task is to clear out the Japanese block houses one by one Chuck lindsberg of easy company in the second Battalion carries 72 pounds of jellied gasoline in a pressurized tank on his back as part of a two-man flamethrower crew Lindsborg and his comrade are called upon to clear an enemy pillbox as part of a marine technique known as Corkscrew and blowtorch Lindbergh moves up to the firing line while fellow Marines intensify their fire towards the pillbox when ready Marines use bar light machine guns to provide suppressive fire while the two men run towards the enemy position lindsberg approaches the pillbox and squeezes the trigger on his M2 flamethrower shooting molten fire into the gunport the heat is so intense that ammunition inside the bunker starts cooking off and the oxygen is sucked from the tunnel Within his comrade then runs around and tosses a satchel charge through the gun Port blowing whatever is left inside to smithereens Lynchburg signals the position is clear and the rest of his platoon moves up Lindbergh repeats this dangerous work as the Marines steadily Advance up Mount zerobachi he will be awarded the Silver Star for bravery Under Fire on d-plus 2. by late afternoon Victory on the mountain is within the Americans grasp the Japanese Garrison has been worn down and is running critically low on ammunition yet they have no intention of giving up on sirobacha yet the Navy spotter aircraft cites Japanese troops opposite Lindbergh's easy company's position forming up for a Banzai charge a dreaded final charge intended to inflict maximum casualties on the Marines now the cost of the Japanese attackers lives second platoon leader Sergeant Mike strank orders his men to hunker down while corsairs dive in to strafe and Rocket the Japanese attackers once the aircraft Bank away strength jumps to his feet and shouts let's show them what a real Banzai is like Easy Company charge easy leaps from behind cover and charges the 100 yards up the exposed volcanic slope surprising the Japanese who had been forming up to attack to the right of second platoon third platoon also charges with bayonets fixed but is pinned down by the few remaining Japanese bunkers realizing they can't break through without tank support Sergeant Ernst boots Thomas Sprint 75 yards to the nearest Sherman to direct fire against the pill boxes while running he has his carbine shot out of his hands undeterred he then runs back to his men and leads them forward until they come under Fire from another bunker Thomas repeats the process sprinting back and forth between his men and the tanks while the Marines Advance up the mountain when they reach the Japanese who were forming up for a Banzai charge the ensuing hand-to-hand fighting is brutal without a rifle Thomas slashes at the enemy with his combat knife ultimately the weakened Japanese Defenders are no match from the Marines to overcome the enemy position after the death of every single Defender sergeant strank and Thomas's men find themselves alone near sirobachi's Summit as Thomas waves his knife Aloft in Victory boots Thomas will be awarded the Navy cross and is killed on Iwo Jima 12 Days Later on the 21st of February alone Marines of easy company will receive a medal of honor for Navy crosses two silver stars and many purple hearts their achievements are not without sacrifice however as easy company suffers 30 casualties on the day night falls on the island with the American troops nearly at the summit of Mount zorobachi the Marines settle into their foxholes and are awed by an unexpected show from the sea the ships of the invasion Fleet have picked up 32 Japanese aircraft on radar and anti-aircraft tracers fill the skies off Iwo Jima the Japanese aircrafts have taken off from the nearby island of hakijujima and head for the American carriers to the east of the island at 6 45 PM they locate the carrier task force centered on the USS Saratoga whose aircraft have been providing close air support for the Marines on Iwo Jima the Japanese aircraft are arriving at the worst possible time for the U.S carriers their combat Air Patrol numbers only six Fighters due to the lack of daylight Cecil Gentry is a radio operator on the Destroyer Escort USS Lawrence Taylor and is monitoring radio traffic from Iwo Jima when the carrier task force receives an air raid warning as Naval anti-aircraft guns light up the night sky Gentry can see the Japanese formation diving on the ships these are kamikazes pilots who intend to crash themselves into the American vessels hoping to sink them in the process Gentry watches in stunned Fascination as six Jill torpedo bombers screamed toward the escort carrier's lunga point and Bismarck sea the anti-aircraft fire brings down four of the attackers but one Kamikaze gets through and hits longer Point luckily the shallow anger of the Collision only grazes the flight deck starting a minor fuel fire however the Bismarck C is less fortunate Gentry spots an incoming Kamikaze Which flies directly over the bridge of Lawrence Taylor so close that Gentry will later recall that they could see the face of the Japanese pilot I could see the fear of death on his face the Jill strikes Bismarck C and detonates inside the main hangar which is crowded with aircraft and Munitions two minutes later a second Kamikaze strikes the ship and causes a massive explosion which rips the carrier in half Bismarck C sinks in a matter of minutes becoming the last us carrier to be sunk by enemy fire in the Second World War escorts move in to pick up survivors the USS Saratoga is also heavily damaged from two direct hits from kamikazes altogether almost 500 American Naval Personnel are killed on this night on D plus 3 Paul weather hampers American Air Support limiting infantry attacks on the ground in the north rocket trucks are brought in to blast the remaining Japanese positions in the rock quarry Lieutenant Colonel Justice Chambers is once again leading from the front rallying his men of the Third Battalion 25th Marine regiment when he is shot through the chest by a Japanese sniper as Chambers is about to succumb to shock his friend Captain James Heasley kicks him in the feet shouting get up you will hurt worse onto lagi Chambers is evacuated on the last transport off the island before nightfall and is later awarded the Medal of Honor to the left of the Third Battalion 25th Marine regiment the American units also begin a slow Advance on the Northern Airfield on Mount suribachi the 28th regiment shrinks the Japanese perimeter to just 400 yards by Nightfall forcing Colonel kanahiko atsuki into a rash decision atsuki orders his men to abandon their positions and break out to the north to rejoin the new defensive line however poor Communications lead to only 150 men attempting the Breakout they are caught in the open by American machine guns and are cut to pieces only 25 make it to the friendly lines where they informed General Curry bayashi that mount suribachi Has Fallen at the base of the mountain Colonel liversidge visits 2nd battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Chandler Johnson and gives him a simple command tomorrow we climb daylight breaks on D plus 4. the 23rd of February to reveal more wind and rain but the weather clears by mid-morning Lieutenant Colonel Johnson orders a patrol from Fox company to probe the summit of Mount suribachi the four-man Patrol carefully climbs the last few yards to the top of the extinct volcano cautiously checking every pillbox and bunker for enemy activity however they encountered no Japanese resistance and make it to the top without any trouble they report their findings to Colonel Johnson who decides to send a stronger Patrol he radios Captain Dave Severance commander of easy company and orders him to send a 40-man group to The Summit severance's executive officer Lieutenant George schreier will lead the men before he leaves Johnson hands Lieutenant shrier a U.S flag to take with him he tells him if you get to the top put it up shria's larger Patrol sets out for the summit at 9 30 am snaking up the extinct volcano in a single fire line the men aboard the warships of Iwo Jima watch with excitement as the patrol slowly makes its way up the Marines take time to throw satchel charges and grenades into any enemy pillbox they find but they are not fired on finally at 10 am the patrol reaches the summit to find no Japanese Defenders 20 minutes later lieutenant shria and his men affects Colonel Johnson's flag to a pole and raise it above mount suribachi across Iwo Jima Marines cheer and whistle while the naval ship's offshore sound their horns the celebration is short-lived private Harold Keller spots a Japanese sniper in a cave entrance on the summit and taking aim at the flag raising party Keller quickly fires three shots from his hip and kills the sniper immediately a small group of Japanese soldiers emerged from the same cave and start lobbing grenades at the Marines a firefight breaks out as Marines stash for cover and fire back at the Japanese men it only lasts a few minutes as the Marines overcome the Defenders With Grenades and accurate rifle fire the last Japanese soldier is killed and Khan returns to the summit with the Americans suffering no casualties in the engagement Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal has accompanied The Invasion Fleet and is coming ashore with General Holland Smith when he spots the American flag on Mount suribachi he turns to the general and remarks Holland the rating of that flag on suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years Forrestal orders General Smith to bring the flag to him so he can take it back to Washington as a souvenir General Smith phones Lieutenant Colonel Johnson whose men have just stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima and taken Mount suribachi and informs him that the politician would like to keep the flag as a souvenir Johnson listens before hanging up with disgust the hell with that that flag belongs to the men of this battalion Johnson sends his adjutant to the beach to fetch a replacement to give to Forrestal instead calling after him and make it a bigger one a larger replacement flag is swiftly retrieved from the beach and is run up the mountain to The Summit the company Runner Renee Gagnon hands the flag to Sergeant strank and tells him Colonel Johnson wants this big flag run up high so every son of a on this whole island can see it the original flag is taken down for lieutenant colonel Johnson to put into safe keeping at 1pm six men from Easy Company 2nd battalion 28th Marine regiment affixed the replacement flag to a heavy pipe and raise it over the island Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal who survived the first days on Iwo Jima is there to capture the moment rosenthal's picture of the second flag raising on Iwo Jima will become one of the most famous images of the second World War politicians Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal never gets his hands on the real flag with Mount suribachi conquered and the southern end of iwojima secured the battle now shifts to the north on the following day d-plus 5 A Massive Attack is launched on a wide front by the third and fifth Marine divisions with the help of overwhelming Naval gunfire from the Cruiser USS Pensacola and the battleship USS Idaho the Marines finally overrun the rock quarry furthermore they make significant progress against Iwo jima's Northern Airfield it is the most territory the U.S has gained in one day since the battle began Naval High command believes that Victory is imminent but the days encouraging advances are instead providing false hope the real battle for Iwo Jima is about to begin as the combat shifts to the Broken Ground and difficult ridges comprising the northern half of the island within a month Lieutenant Colonel Johnson and half of the Marines who raised the flag atop Mount zorobachi will be dead Dawn the 25th of February 1945. the fourth Marine division is about to launch a general offensive against the Japanese defenses on Northern Iwo Jima with the fall of Mount suribachi and the good progress of the previous day's attack there is hope that the island is about to fall to the Americans the plan is for the 23rd 24th and 25th Marine regiments to advance across the last stretch of Iwo jima's second Airfield sweep the enemy off the remaining High ground and push them into the sea at 6 30 am Marine Waters begin shelling suspected Japanese positions while Sherman tanks form up to support the advance half an hour later the Third Battalion of the 24th Marines jumps off and Sprints into the assault across the Airfield the Marines have been expecting an easier fight than they have faced in the first days of the battle but are shocks to find themselves coming under the heaviest enemy fire yet Japanese mortar shells explode around the Infantry as they move across the Airfield the American armor quickly moves in to cover the Marines only for five Shermans to be knocked out in quick succession by anti-tank gunfire the Japanese have precited this area and have placed 47 millimeter guns with armor-piercing rounds on The Ridges ahead ahead of them is the most difficult fighting that the Marine Corps will face so far in World War II after clearing the Airfield the fourth Marine Division must cross the Moto Yama Plateau a flat area devoid of cover surrounded by ridges perfect for Japanese Defenders on one side is Hill 382 a small Mountain which has been hollowed out to conceal anti-tank guns and artillery the other half is dominated by a massive Rock the Marines will call the turkey knob that also serves as the Japanese Communications Headquarters these concrete reinforce strong points form a grid of interlocking fire where no Marine can approach without being spotted this area will soon have a nickname that both the Americans and Japanese will later agree on the meat grinder the Marines make some progress up to the Northwestern side of the Airfield and can only cling to a small stretch of land Beyond at the Moto Yama plateau over the following days a grinding attritional battle will see the two-sides scrap over every inch of land American intelligence believes they have destroyed about half of the estimated 13 000 Defenders of Iwo Jima in fact their appraisal of enemy casualties is accurate the Marines have killed about 6 000 Japanese soldiers but what they don't realize is that another 16 000 enemy troops remain on the island and they have been ordered to fight to the death by Lieutenant General tadamichi kuribayashi rather than performing an expected cleanup operation on the rest of the iwojima the Marines will instead find themselves fighting their way through General Curry bayashi's main defensive line however karibayashi is having difficulties of his own despite his strong defensive setup the loss of Mount suribachi has deprived his artillery of the ability to harass the main Landing beaches and his forces are running low on food water and material on d-plus 9 the men of easy company of the 28th Marine regiment are redeployed to the front after resting and refitting behind the lines after their daring charge up Mount zorobachi the iconic photograph of six Easy Company Men raising the flag over Iwo Jima has galvanized the United States home front and President Roosevelt will soon ask for those Marines to be transferred home for a war bond tour but first on d-plus 9 the 28th regiment is ordered to the northern front to rejoin the main battle the 28th regiment must Traverse a maze of gullies and caves where enemy troops could be lurking behind every corner the Marines are cautiously entering a small Canyon when they come under Fire from Japanese snipers Chuck Lindsborg the flamethrower Marine who earned a silver star on Mount suribachi is hit immediately and must be carried to the rear for evacuation Sergeant Mike strank one of the flag raisers orders his platoon to take cover behind an outcropping of rocks as they are discussing an Escape Route a shell from a friendly Destroyer offshore falls short and explodes next to strength killing him instantly Holly hands strengths watched to another flag raiser harlon block for safekeeping shortly after block himself is hit by a mortar shell and shouts they killed me before slumping over dead the following day Lieutenant Colonel Johnson who has locked the original flag away in the Battalion safe is killed in a Japanese artillery barrage while directing his men at the front three of the men intimately involved in one of the most iconic moments in American military history are dead in a matter of hours on the other side of the island radio man saruji akikuza of the Imperial Japanese Navy is inside the communications bunker within the turkey knob by the night of the 1st of March the bunker is nearly out of food and water but more importantly the radio equipment has been destroyed akikuza volunteers alongside seven other men to run across the Moto Yama plateau and deliver a message to the Naval Air Group command bunker requesting more supplies before he leaves akikuza's best friend Shoji kagayama wants him to be careful the radio man responds don't worry I'll be right back in the dead of night akikuza and the other Messengers slip out of the communications bunker from a cave exit they make their way North moving parallel to American lines as they silently cross the killing ground of the Moto Yama plateau all around them lies the devastation of War as they pass the Twisted remains of Rex tanks and rotting corpses which could not be evacuated during the day U.S naval artillery occasionally fires star shells into the night sky forcing the runners to frequently die for cover before the landscape is illuminated by artificial light [Music] whenever a star shell explodes near them akikuza must often hide amongst the rows of decomposing human remains to avoid being spotted from the American foxholes he works hard to not lose the contents of his stomach before jumping back up when the area goes dark again the runners creep silently towards their objective while trying to avoid detection he and the other Runners are almost to the entrance of the command bunker when the radio man spots bright flashes coming from the south akikuza dive to the ground as an artillery shell explodes amongst the runners he looks around to see if anyone else has survived before crawling towards the bunker entrance yet another shell explodes next to him severely wounding his leg with the last of his strength akikuza manages to roll into the trench in front of the bunker and is taken Inside by Japanese soldiers he recites his message to Captain annoye before passing out from blood loss but has survived the ordeal by the end of the battle akikuza will be the only Survivor from the communications bunker in the turkey knob on the 4th of March a crippled B-29 going by the call sign Diner might requests an emergency landing on Iwo jima's captured Southern Airfield while returning from a bombing Mission over Mainland Japan despite the battle still raiding on the island over 2000 Seabees have worked night and day to make the southern Runway usable in less than a week Dynamite makes a hard Landing with the crew is safe marines watch as the Airmen leap from the aircraft and kiss the ground shouting thank God for you Marines it will be the first of 2251 emergency Landings by American aircraft on Iwo Jima during breaks in the battle the Marines watch as b-29s land at the airfields they have secured providing a much-needed morale boost the Americans continue to enter their way across the island methodically destroying Japanese positions when the Infantry is faced with a particularly difficult strong point American flamethrower tanks are brought in to burn the Japanese out these Zippo or Ransom tanks prove to be the best weapon against the seemingly endless number of enemy bunkers and caves the American armor develops their own core screw and blowtorch tactic with two Shermans one gun armed and one flame tank approaching a Japanese strong point the gun-armed Sherman will use its 75 millimeter main gun to blow a hole in the enemy bunker before withdrawing the flamethrower Sherman will then move up and shoot flaming Napalm into the opening the armored flamethrower tanks have a range of almost 250 feet doubling the effective range of the infantry's M2 flamethrower Captain Frank Caldwell a company commander in the 26th Marine regiment will later state it was the flame tank more than any other supporting arm that won this battle however there are only eight of these tanks on iojima meaning most attacks are launched unsupported by the Marine's best weapon by the 5th of March the Americans have finally breached the Japanese main defensive line only to come up against a strongly fortified secondary line the third Marine Division under the command of Major General Graves Erskine has cleared out most of the matayama plateau only to be held up by Hill 362c a dominating feature overlooking a volcanic sulfur field life in the foxholes is near impossible for the Marines who must contend with hot sulfur burning their skin as fumes Bubble Up from cracks in the ground the initial assaults against Hill 362c have so far failed with numerous casualties despite overwhelming artillery barrages General Erskine orders another attack Before Dawn on the 7th but this time will employ new tactics at 5am the 9th and 21st Marine regiments leave their foxholes and move quietly across the battlefield American tactics in the Pacific Theater have dictated that artillery and air power should always bombard the enemy before the Infantry attacks in force General Erskine has noticed that the Japanese on Iwo Jima Retreat deep into the vast tunnel complex during the preemptive bombardment and returned to man their positions when the Marines advance he decides to ditch this strategy and orders his division to attack without a preparatory barrage the men have been ordered to observe strict radio silence as they Advance gingerly towards the first enemy line when they reach it they find the Japanese Defenders fast asleep at their posts the Marines bayonet the enemy and continue forward undetected they start to climb what they believe is Hill 362c until the Japanese machine gun finally spots them and opens fire a flamethrower unit swiftly deals with the gun position while the rest of the Marines make a break towards the summit a short but vicious firefight breaks out as the Defenders realize what is happening and try to man their positions however the element of surprise is so complete that the Japanese can only offer scattered resistance the Marines clear the hill by 6 20 am Lieutenant Colonel Harold Baum commander of the Third Battalion in the ninth Marines is Overjoyed when he learns of the stunning Victory only for his heart to drop when day breaks over Iwo Jima he is horrified to discover that his men have stormed the wrong Hill they had gotten lost in the dark and advanced 250 yards in a different direction Hill 362c is still occupied by the enemy and the now alert Japanese have pinned down the first and second battalions which have been caught in the open boom orders his men to attack at once to relieve the pressure on the other Marine battalions and press home his early advantage while Third Battalion charges towards Hill 362c the other two battalions of the ninth regiment are being cut to pieces Lieutenant William O'Bannon of fox company in the first Battalion screens into the radio for tank support but the Shermans are too far behind the front to quickly move to Fox company's position and a broken down tank blocks the only usable path to the front Japanese spigot mortar and machine gun fire from Hill 362c decimates o'bannon's ranks they will be stuck in the open under enemy fire for the entire day by the time the tanks arrived to relieve them the following morning thoughts company only has five combat effective men left after starting the previous day with 200. yet their sacrifice has not been in vain Third Battalion manages to gain a foothold on hill 362c and the Marines start clearing enemy positions With Grenades and flamethrowers furthermore the earlier capture of the smaller Hill has unhinged the Japanese defensive front allowing reinforcements to be brought forward without harassment fire from the enemy by Nightfall The Hill which had held up the entire third Marine division is finally secured despite the earlier mistakes the surprise attack has cracked the Japanese secondary defensive line the loss of Hill 362c is the last straw for curry bayashi's officers without his knowledge or blessing subordinates captain inoye and general sender send out word to launch a general attack code for a Banzai charge on the night of the 8th of March they have decided that the fate of Iwo Jima now rests on their shoulders and only they can turn the tide before the entire Garrison is wiped out as night falls Japanese soldiers begin preparations for the largest Banzai charge of the Battle of Iwo Jima thank you it's nearly midnight on the 8th of March 1945. at the Naval Air Group command bunker in Northern iwoijima Japanese soldiers prepared to launch a massive Banzai attack on the American Invaders radio man saruji akikuza begs his comrades to take him with them but he is still recovering from the wounds he suffered the week prior as he dashed across the island to deliver a message to the bunker he can only watch as his friends destroy their radio equipment and salute each other with a farewell toast at midnight Anson satoru omagari leaves the bunker with a company of the third aircraft maintenance unit under the command of Lieutenant hideo Koshi omagari and his men are aircraft technicians and they have not been trained for combat roles but they are willing to die for their country and have been given grenades to hide in their belts to detonate amongst their captors should they be captured by the enemy after three weeks of vicious combat the Japanese defenses on iwojima are beginning to crack under the Relentless pressure from the third fourth and 5th Marine divisions the previous day saw the loss of Hill 362c in the north of the island one of the last Japanese strong points on Lieutenant General tadamichi kuribayashi's secondary defensive line however many Japanese men remain hidden in bunkers and caves throughout the island Curry bayati is intent on preserving his remaining strength as much as possible and forbids his rebellious commanders from ordering Banzai charges over the radio General kuri bayashi begs his men not to throw their lives away those who are listening obey their Commanding General but others are not told of his instructions and climb out of their bunkers to take part in the assault omagari's company moves out with the 1000 Japanese men taking part in the Banzai attack they are told by their superiors that the objective is to recapture Mount suribachi but most men know they are headed to their deaths they will also not have the element of surprise the fourth Marine Division has noticed increased Japanese activity during the day and its men are alerted to a possible attack Lieutenant koshy's men make their way across the mosayama plateau past the turkey knob and Hill 382 which are still holding out however a star shell illuminates their position and they are quickly hit by an American mortar barrage the mortars kill most of the men out in the open while Ensign omagari hugs the ground when it ends he makes his way forward to ask Lieutenant Koshi for instructions only to find him mortally wounded Koshi tells omagari to take over the attack and to leave him behind omagari leads the remaining men across the Broken Ground in front of them braving American artillery fire what's left of omigari's company reaches a destroyed Shinto Shrine near the Airfield where they find 400 Naval troops crowded together in craters the planning for the attack has been poor and the leaderless Japanese units are making themselves easy targets by congregating Marine artillery blasts the shrine and the air maintenance company is forced to take cover two hours pass during which time one by one the men in the craters summon the courage to attack and leave the area to charge the American lines eventually omagari also leads his company away from the shrine towards the Airfield as they approach they come under intense machine gun fire and are forced to try a different route after walking for another hour omagari and his weary men suddenly find themselves in a quiet sector totally lost he stumbles to a cave entrance where a hidden Japanese tank crewman asks him what he and his men are doing here we are on a general attack what attack no such attack has been authorized you must return to your post at once omagari and the Tank Man argue until Colonel Nishi of the 26th tank regiment appears Nishi produces a written order from General Corey bayashi forbidding Banzai charges realizing he and his men have been lied to omigari and his men follow the tank men inside the bunker where they will spend the rest of the battle a headcounter reveals that only 20 of Lieutenant koshy's original 100 men have survived the night those units that managed to charge the American positions are massacred and the Marines will count almost 800 Japanese bodies the next day at the cost of only 90 dead the failed General attack marks a turning point in the battle the remaining Japanese garrisons are severely weakened and Curry bayashi's secondary defensive line is slowly overcome as the Marines cut off and isolate the toughest strong points the day after the doomed Banzai charge a 28-man patrol from the third division reaches the northernmost coast of Iwo Jima with their commanding officer sending a bottle of water from the captured Beach back to General Erskine as a keepsake on the same day Hill 382 is finally neutralized after heavy fighting with defeat imminent karibayati retreats to make his last stand in the northwest corner of the island an area that will become known as Death Valley the last phase of the battle is not without casualties the U.S Marines continue to fight for every inch of the jagged rock-litted ground north of the second Airfield the turkey knob Falls by March 10th and the eastern half of the Japanese Garrison is forced into a shrinking pocket with the appalling casualties alarming the American public the Navy cynically announces on the 14th of March that Iwo Jima is secured in an official flag-raising ceremony at the base of Mount zorobachi meanwhile in the north of the Island Marine flame tanks are expanding their Napalm fuel at a rate of over 10 000 gallons a day to clear the remaining enemy emplacements on the 21st of March a third flag razor private first class Franklin sously is killed by a Japanese sniper on the Northwestern end of the island on the 23rd of March General Curry bayashi sends a final message to the nearby Japanese Garrison on chichijima all officers and Men of chichijima goodbye from Iwo two nights later 300 Japanese soldiers in curry bayashi's last defensive stronghold slip out of their tunnels and caves they make their way through Death Valley and head south towards the second Airfield so few of these men will end up Surviving so it is unclear how they managed to sneak through the American lines completely undetected in the dead of night they creep silently Through The Ravines and gullies that the Marines have been fighting through for the previous month some U.S Marines would later report that they thought they saw shadowy figures in the Darkness once on the edge of the Airfield the Japanese soldiers split into three groups and prepare to attack a newly constructed American camp this tented area is currently occupied by Seabees the fifth Pioneer Battalion and second line troops who are unaware of the approaching Danger at just past midnight the Japanese soldiers leaped to their feet and give a loud Banzai as they charge towards the camp the confused Americans are awoken by the sudden attack the Japanese slash men in their tents with bayonets and then throw grenades and fire wildly the fighting alerts a nearby Marine Detachment and a Shore battery of black soldiers who come to the support of the rear area troops the fighting is desperate and vicious as the Americans try to regain their bearings first lieutenant Harry Martin of the fifth Pioneers organizes a firing line in the middle of the camp which halts the Japanese attack at the same time Martin realizes the enemy has surrounded some of the tents of his unit armed with only a pistol he charges alone towards his trapped men and is wounded twice as he runs through enemy fire he manages to reach his cut-off Marines and directs them back to Friendly lines as they Retreat the Japanese capture a 30 caliber machine gun nest and turn the gun on The Americans Martin again charges firing his pistol at the Machine Gun Nest and manages to kill all three occupants he calls for his men to follow him into a counter-attack before he is killed by a Japanese grenade for his actions Lieutenant Martin will be the last Medal of Honor recipient on Iwo Jima by Dawn almost every enemy soldier has perished at the cost of 172 American casualties It is believed that General Curry bayashi personally LED this attack but his body is never found the following day the 26th of March D plus 35 the local Marine Commanders declare the island conquered Easy Company of the 28th Marine regiment attends a dedication of the new 5th division Cemetery under the shadow of Mount suribachi 310 men including Replacements served in Easy Company during the battle only 50 are left to attend the ceremony the Battle of Iwo Jima is declared officially over on the 26th of March after 36 Days of fighting however over 2 000 Japanese soldiers remained hidden in the miles of tunnels and caves when the replacement occupation force of U.S army units arrive these hidden fighters will cause Untold chaos the 147th Regiment of the Ohio National Guard will continue anti-gorilla activities to flush out these remnants for months after the Marines have left Radioman saruji akikuza an Ensign satoru omagari will hold out until May before giving themselves up to the Americans the last two Japanese soldiers will finally surrender on the 6th of January 1949. in total the Americans suffer over 27 000 casualties 27 Medals of Honor are awarded to Marines on iwoijima making it the most decorated single Battle of the Pacific Theater For the United States armed forces Admiral Nimitz will later say among the Americans who served on Iwo Jima Uncommon Valor was a common virtue of the approximately 22 000 Japanese Defenders on Iwo Jima only 1080 survives to be taken prisoner over half of the remains of the Japanese Fallen have never been recovered

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 1,948,200

Keywords: ww2, animated, documentary, history, iwo jima, us navy, us marines, flags of our fathers, john basilone

Id: g9rMTlJNcIQ

Length: 59min 58sec (3598 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 20 2023