Japan to protect them Finally holding Iwo Jima would help the United States blockade Japan by air and sea The tiny island was a key to winning the war Since Iwo Jima was equally as important to Japan's success the island was heavily guarded Taking control of the tiny chunk of land would not be easy Lieutenant General Holland Smith commander of the US landing forces said This will be the bloodiest fight in Marine Corps history We'll catch seven kinds of hell on the beaches and that will be just GIANT BOMBERS the beginning The fighting will be fierce The Boeing B 29 Superfortress airplane was and the casualties will be awful but my an important tool in World War II Most B 29s Marines will take the damned island 2 carried ten machine guns a cannon and up to 20 000 pounds 9 000 kg of bombs They had a flying range of 3 700 miles 6 000 km This CODE TALKERS ON DECK allowed the planes to make long distance raids The Navajo code talkers were the United on Japan from bases in China or islands in the States secret weapon To make sure Pacific Ocean Japanese forces did not figure out their A B 29 called Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan on August 6 battle plans US forces communicated 1945 A B 29 called Bockscar dropped another using code The code talkers translated atomic bomb on Nagasaki Japan three days messages for the commanders as US forces later Those devastating bombings ended the conducted air raids lasting ten weeks war The Enola Gay is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum NASM of Then battleships attacked the island the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC They fired more than 22 000 rounds of Bockscar is on display at the National Museum of shells and dropped more than 6 900 short the US Air Force in Ohio tons 6 300 metric tons of bombs before soldiers ever set foot on the island The US
NAVAJO CEREMONIES Traditional Navajo people conduct surrounded by bodies those of their own ceremonies throughout the year some side and of the enemy They might have to lasting many days Songs and prayers often spend days in a foxhole next to the body of accompany day to day acts such as building a friend who had been killed Landing on an a home and planting crops island might require wading through floating The Navajo do not perform ceremonies bodies and crossing beaches littered with the dead when burying the dead however They believe the spirit of a person lingers after Many Navajo soldiers found comfort death These spirits are dangerous to anyone in traditional rituals They brought along who comes near the body Because of this pouches of sacred corn pollen and held belief the dead are buried in unmarked ceremonies during their tours of duty graves by people other than close family In wartime soldiers have constant contact with dead bodies Combat troops are often forces hoped to weaken the Japanese defense with this advanced action but only a land battle among soldiers would determine which side controlled the island In preparation 450 ships gathered with 70 000 US Marines ready to land As the convoy surrounded Iwo Jima some code talkers made their way to the ships decks at 4 30 a m They performed an ancient ritual greeting to Father Sun one of their gods The Navajo soldiers placed dabs of sacred corn pollen on their tongues and the tops of their heads and made an offering to the east This ritual was designed to give them clear speech clear thought and a safe path to walk 11
Soon after code talkers Thomas Begay and Johnny Manuelito were at their post on the top deck of the ship Begay later said I couldn't believe how ugly and forbidding that place looked It made me very uncomfortable and then something happened that confirmed that feeling Johnny and I had our radio net operating when a shell fired from the island bounced off just below where we were standing It bounced off the next deck below and exploded on the third bounce We would have been the first casualties of Iwo Jima if that shell had exploded on impact Things like that made you glad you performed your ceremony The first wave of US Marines hit the beaches at approximately 9 00 a m on February 19 1945 The island itself looked bleak Due to past volcanic activity the beaches were black sand The air was hot and humid day and night and the island reeked of rotten eggs from the sulfur released by active volcanic vents The danger however came from the thousands of Japanese soldiers entrenched on the island In the months leading up to the attack they had built a network of tunnels which joined underground concrete shelters Antitank mines were buried in the sandy slopes Every jumble of rock and brush held peepholes and gunports The Japanese had 800 positions from which to fire weapons Crossing any open space meant exposing oneself to gunfire This tiny island was one of the strongest Japanese defenses The struggle began when the US soldiers reached the beach They had trouble gaining traction in the volcanic ash soil An earthen terrace approximately 15 feet 5 m high blocked their way Vehicles bogged down on the beach Soldiers had to wade through the deep sand and up steep slopes carrying more
Corporal Henry Blake Jr of Fort Defiance Arizona and Private First Class PFC George H Kirk of Leuppe Arizona send messages in code in the Pacific Theater in December 1943 than 100 pounds 45 kg of gear At least they faced little resistance from the Japanese at first UNDER FIRE Then the Japanese attacked They had let the Marines reach the beach in order to spring a trap on them Marines caught on the beach had little shelter besides
