Flags of our Fathers

Flags of our Fathers

The battle of Iwo Jima took place between the United States of America and Japan in the second month of 1945. The Japanese empire that wanted to expand its aggression and take over other parts of the world attacked the American naval base in Pearl Harbor. The reason behind the Japanese attack was to prevent the Americans from getting involved in any situation which would have affected their intentions for the conquest of pacific. However, the attack drew the Americans into the World War II, and the result was many battles in the pacific theatre of which one was the battle of Iwo Jima.

The battle of Iwo Jima was part of the strategy employed by the Americans to weaken Japan by overtaking its Pacific empire island by island. The idea was also to deprive them of the vital resources. The invasion of Iwo Jima was planned for the same reason. The Japanese military though fought hard and gave the Americans tough time before they could enter the island. When Iwo Jima was invaded, Japan had already lost a lot of its colonies. Their military found it hard to compete with the military industry of America. The battle of Iwo Jima was critical to the outcome of the war for several reasons. The island of Iwo Jima was required by the Americans. It was through this island that the Japanese air defense forces were able to disrupt the American bombing missions against Japan. Secondly, Americans wanted to use the airfields in this island for its own flying and bombing missions. Thirdly, the island was also important for the Japanese according to their traditions. Before the invasion began, the American air force and navy had been heavily bombing the island in order to make the invasion easy. However, this proved to be of little help as the Japanese had lots of entrenchments that protected the Japanese soldiers from the bombings. The Japanese Lieutenant General Kuribayashi was the commander of the Japanese forces in the island. He knew where the marines would land on the island. The arrival of the marines on the island took place on February 19, 1945. The 28th regiment which included the East Company had the responsibility of capturing the mountain of Suribachi after landing on Green Beach One. The Japanese strategy was to let the Americans gather on the beach before attacking them. However, the marines displayed exemplary bravery and despite the heavy Japanese fire that resulted in several casualties, the marines managed to advance. Many marines were injured but they decided to stay on and fight with their comrades (Casanueva, 2012).

East Company was forced to spend a traumatic night as they came under Japanese mortar fire throughout the night. East Company was asked to revert back to the east and take on a backup position to assist the 2nd Battalion which along with the 3rd battalion was advancing towards the Mount Suribachi. There were dead bodies all along and in ...