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ROAD TO IWO JIMA
by Wes May
PROLOGUE
When I entered public elementary school
in 1941, a favorite game school kids played was
“Capture the Flag”… and a chant in vogue when
playing that was,“WHEN THE GOING GETS
TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING.”
I still believe that parable, attributed to
JFK’s dad, is basically a Life Key. And as we
learned more about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the
immediate impact was to elevate that tour to
Bucket LIST #1 … finally. So I ask you to keep
that in mind as you read this article.
Wife Jeanne and I are a NAVY family who
moved often, including living abroad in Rome,
Madrid, Iceland and Guam. So we naturally
had a deep and wide-ranging Bucket List. Iwo
Jima, that tiny South Pacific island and site
of a viciously fought amphibious campaign
in World War II, was on that List… but it had
never reached the top rung. Suddenly, with the
Sea Services (the Navy, including Sea Bees, and
Marines) leading the way, and supported by
some unanticipated assisting circumstances,
Iwo Jima became #1, which we visited in March.
Our tour, sponsored by the National WWII
Museum in New Orleans, had a great itinerary
including Pearl Harbor, Saipan, Tinian, and
Guam, from which we made the flight for the
one-day visit to Iwo Jima on March 23, the only
day Americans may visit. Included in our tour
group were five Vets of that battle… an invaluable
source of personal insights, e.g., numerous
statements that the Marines fought “on the
ground” while the Japanese fought “under the
ground.” The ultimate tour highlight was the
74th annual commemoration of that battle,
including its Reunion of Honor Ceremony…
the BILATERAL Japanese-US memorial service
for those who had fought there! Also attending
was the Grandson of General Tadamichi
Kuribayashi, Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), who
commanded the garrison in that battle. Photo
shows him (the one without cap) coming over
to the American area to meet with our vets…a
really classic gesture!
But other consequential circumstances
helped raise Iwo Jima to the top. I had commanded
the Western Pacific Communications Area
Master Station on Guam for three years. And
we welcomed revisiting that command and the
local civilian and military personnel who were
still there. And the tour of the facility and its
crew with the current C.O., CDR Christina Hicks
(also a pilot) kindled many great memories.
An important ancillary factor was the role of
the Navajo Code talkers who fought in the Iwo
Jima battle. Their contribution was so important
that the 5th Marine Div signal officer stated,
“Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would
never have taken Iwo Jima.” During a National
Parks “Bucket List tour” in June 2017, we were
privileged to meet and be briefed by one of the
Navajo Code Talkers who had fought on Iwo
Jima, Peter MacDonald, Sr. The impact of his
briefing was the real genesis that raised Iwo
Jima to # 1 on our Bucket List and, thereby, is the
principal reason we joined this year’s tour. To
close this preliminary commentary on our tour,
the US declared Iwo Jima secure on 26 March
1945, after suffering 26,039 casualties (total
killed and wounded). Only 1,083 of the 22,786
Japanese defenders survived to be captured.
(i.e., 21,703 casualties). Significantly that was the
only battle in which Marine combat casualties
exceeded those of the enemy they fought! And
that, by itself, is reason enough to put Iwo Jima
in the #1 tour slot!
NOTE: If you are interested in taking this
historical tour, act quickly and contact the
National WW II Museum in New Orleans to sign
up for their tour. The government of Japan will
only permit that tour until there are WWII battle
vets alive! The only downside of our tour was the
one-day, almost 9000 miles airline flight home
(RDU airport). Of course, the flight path was the
Great Circle route which featured more Trans-
Pacific flight time over Russia than the Pacific
Ocean! (So we also recommend upgrading
your airline tickets to get the very comfortable
business-class flight!)
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BATTLE OF IWO JIMA
NOT A DESCRIPTION OF BATTLE
In my opinion, the key for comprehending
greatly-significant historical events is to
understand what motivated the major figures
who defined that history. This is particularly
so in the military cases like the Battle of Iwo
Jima (February 19 to March 26, 1945). Without
a doubt the key participant was the Japanese
General (and Samurai descendant) Tadamichi
Kuribayashi. But I also believe there is an
important second group, The Navajo Code
Talkers, whom I have already mentioned, who,
neutralized Japan’s powerful advantage in
codebreaking so that communications security
would not be jeopardized.
But let me begin with the undeniably major
factor, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. He was a
departure from the standard Imperial Japanese
Army (IJA) military psyche of that period … so
he is a dominating presence on both sides of
the battle. Gen “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, who led
our Iwo Jima assault, had actually spent hours
looking for his counterpart’s body to honor his
opponent, but without success. Nevertheless he
honored his foe with a gracious Epitaph: “Of all
our adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was
the most redoubtable.”
So this is really Gen. Kuribayashi’s story …
who is also featured in Clint Eastwood’s movie,
“Letters from Iwo Jima.” A loyal servant of the
Emperor, who emphatically insisted “The
United States is the last country in the world
Japan should fight,” In a later letter he added:
“But once ordered to defend this most vital
point for Japan (i.e., Iwo Jima), I have no choice
but to complete my task.”
For 3 years in 1920’s, he had been assigned
to America as Military Attache. He studied
American military psyche and our country’s
economic/industrial power, supported by an
energetic and robust population. A loyal servant
of the Emperor, but one who very carefully
detested much of Japan’s authoritarianism.
As he was skillfully preparing for his task,
he essentially trashed the existing IJA defensive
playbook. Example: he stopped constructing
beach defenses (were always destroyed early by
pre-landing bombardment) and didn’t engage
attackers until they were 500 meters inland. He
wanted beach areas crowded with personnel
and material converted into violent killing
areas during the assault as 30,000 Marines
struggled onto the small volcanic ash beaches
on D-Day. He withheld artillery fire for more
than an hour to create the crowded beach.
The defenders maintained camouflage and fire
discipline so imposed large losses on attackers,
without the massive losses of banzai attacks.
His fundamental creed was that the deeper
down you are in battle, the longer you will live
to kill the enemy. And you will continue the fight
until death. Kuribayashi’s plans always made
intelligent use of Iwo’s forbidding terrain and his
troops’ fighting skills.
The focal point of defense was to the north,
not Suribachi to the south (which was captured
on Day 4). The main defensive area was deeply
entrenched, camouflaged bunkers, blockhouses
and caves interconnected with an 11-12 mile
network of tunnels,(remember Iwo is only 8
square miles). The Marines favored grenades
and man-pack napalm flamethrowers in the
tight tunnels of those fortified areas. After the
marines cleared an area and continued their
advance, the defenders easily reoccupied
the area via the tunnel network to attack the
advancing Marines from the rear… a gambit
that produced many casualties.
Although these tactics did not win the battle,
they proved their effectiveness since this was
the only battle in which Marine casualties
(killed and wounded) of 26,039 exceeded the
Honor Ceremony of the 74th Annual Commemoration of Iwo Jima 2019.
No. 135 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. p.27