Iwo Jima secured this day March 16, 1945

[Sunni Man]

"Iwo Jima also served as the base for four Groups and two Squadrons of the VII Fighter Command flying P-51s, P-47s and P-61s and assigned to the 20th Air Force. From Apr to Aug 45 they flew 51 escort and strike missions over Japan, damaged or destroyed 1,062 enemy aircraft and lost 114 fighters in combat."

Mustaqngs of Iwo: Mustaqngs of Iwo, 506th Fighter Group, 457 Fighter Squadron, 458 Fighter Squadron, 462 Fighter Squadron Lawrence Smith 472601

506th Fighter Group 457 Fighter Squadron 458 Fighter Squadron 462 Fighter Squadron Iwo to Japan are available area.

www.506thfightergroup.org

 

[Likkmee]

The island is only about 2 miles by 4 miles and it took the lives of almost 7,000 Marines in a month of fighting from Feb. 14 to March 16 1945. It's said that FDR gasped when he was shown the casualty list.

Had they not we'd all be speaking Iwajimian !

 

[Mac-7]

I was honored to meet this man a few years before his death and have him autograph his book at a local gun show

a real gentleman

WWII Marine Corps Hero RV Burgin Dies at 96 Sea Technology magazine

R.V. Burgin, a WWII Marine Corps hero, died Apr. 6 at the age of 96. Funeral services will be held today, Friday Apr. 12, near Dallas in Lancaster, Texas at the First Baptist Church at 2:00 p.m. Romus Valton Burgin joined the marines in 1942 and served in the Pacific theater, one of the most...

sea-technology.com

Romus Valton Burgin joined the marines in 1942 and served in the Pacific theater, one of the most violent parts of the war, including the Battle of Okinawa and the Battle of Peleliu. The horrors he witnessed were captured in his book, “Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific,” and the HBO series “The Pacific” produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks in 2010.

 

[whitehall]

If it were bypassed it would then be used to attack us from behind.

It's 1945. The war in the Pacific would be over in 6 months. The U.S. was bombing Japan in daylight raids. The Japanese on Iwo might have survived for another couple of months at best if we bypassed the island. If we bombed the airfield it would have kept what's left of the Zero fighters out of the picture and they would have run out of gas anyway.

 

[whitehall]

Keeping Japanese fighters from harassing U.S. bombing raids was a lame reason for invading Iwo. Iwo Jima was considered by the Japanese to be part of the homeland. For some reason the Navy refused to shell the island for the time requested by the Marines. What else did they have to do? My guess is that the Navy was instructed not to annihilate the island but to leave Japanese defenders alive to see how fanatically they would fight for the homeland. Marines were sacrificed in an effort to determine the Japanese willingness to fight for their homeland while the "Bomb" was being developed.

 

[Mushroom]

Iwo Jima was considered by the Japanese to be part of the homeland.

So was Saipan, with almost 30,000 civilians living on it. Your point is?

 

[whitehall]

So was Saipan, with almost 30,000 civilians living on it. Your point is?

Look again. Saipan was considered to be part of the outer defenses of the Japanese empire but it was only occupied by the Japanese in the early 30's. As such it was not part of the Japanese homeland like Iwo was.

 

[Billo_Really]

The island is only about 2 miles by 4 miles and it took the lives of almost 7,000 Marines in a month of fighting from Feb. 14 to March 16 1945. It's said that FDR gasped when he was shown the casualty list.

What about the losses on the Japanese side? Did you see that Clint Eastwood movie, "Letters from Iwo Jima"? That shit is heartbreaking!

 

[whitehall]

Sgt John Basilone USMC was awarded the Medal Of Honor for heroism on Guadalcanal and became the darling of the Hollywood sponsored bond drives but he couldn't take the phoniness and requested to go back with his boys. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima by mortar fire.

 

[Mac-7]

Keeping Japanese fighters from harassing U.S. bombing raids was a lame reason for invading Iwo. Iwo Jima was considered by the Japanese to be part of the homeland. For some reason the Navy refused to shell the island for the time requested by the Marines. What else did they have to do? My guess is that the Navy was instructed not to annihilate the island but to leave Japanese defenders alive to see how fanatically they would fight for the homeland. Marines were sacrificed in an effort to determine the Japanese willingness to fight for their homeland while the "Bomb" was being developed.

There are a lot of crackpot historians with goofy theories about WWII

you seem to have found several

 

[whitehall]

There are a lot of crackpot historians with goofy theories about WWII

you seem to have found several

Did you get through school by claiming that theories were "goofy" if you didn't have the intellectual ability to argue? It's an old tired defense and you should know better.

 

[Mushroom]

As such it was not part of the Japanese homeland like Iwo was.

Iwo was not claimed by Japan until 1860, and by the time they sent settlers there in 1875 there were already English, Dutch, and other Europeans living there. In fact, the Japanese themselves did not care much about the island, as it had the largest population of Konketsuji ("mixed-blood child") in the nation.

That is hardly "Japanese Homeland" either.

Once again, please do some basic research, and do not just try to come up with things off of the top of your head.

 

[Mushroom]

he couldn't take the phoniness and requested to go back with his boys.

Actually, "Fighting John" considered himself a warrior. He served in the Army in the Philippines, and was known even to General MacArthur at the time as he was the Boxing Champion of the islands.

Like many he saw the war coming, so rejoined in 1940. He wanted to return to the Philippines, and deciding his best chance to do so would be to join the Marines because of the large presence at Subic Bay. I have read and heard a lot about his time in, but never that he thought it was "phony". He simply wanted to return to the war. He refused an offer of a commission, and the best he could get was a training position. But he constantly requested to be sent back to "The Fleet", and finally got that in late 1944.

 

[whitehall]

The only MOH recipient to return to battle and be KIA? Basilone may have thought he was fighting against a conventional enemy on Guadalcanal. He and his unit stopped to regroup not knowing that every square inch of Iwo Jima was covered by Japanese mortar fire and it only took a minute or so for the Japanese to zero on his position.

 

[whitehall]

Iwo was not claimed by Japan until 1860, and by the time they sent settlers there in 1875 there were already English, Dutch, and other Europeans living there. In fact, the Japanese themselves did not care much about the island, as it had the largest population of Konketsuji ("mixed-blood child") in the nation.

That is hardly "Japanese Homeland" either.

Once again, please do some basic research, and do not just try to come up with things off of the top of your head

Maybe you have the wrong idea of the message board. It's about opinion and discussion and in this case your opinion was wrong bout Saipan. The Bushido Japanese may have looked down on mixed blood people who made a living from the sea but they considered Iwo Jima to be part of the Japanese empire and they spent forty years fortifying the island. Apparently the U.S. thought the same thing when in 1968 the island was returned to the Japanese.

 

[Mushroom]

The only MOH recipient to return to battle and be KIA?

True fact, over 60% who are awarded that medal do not survive to serve afterwards. And a significant number of the remainder are so badly injured that they are unable to return. John was simply one of the lucky ones that was not badly injured, so was able to return to service again. However, after his death it became "unofficial policy" that future awardees would not see combat again.

But for the Marines, there were actually two different individuals who earned the medal twice. Smedley Butler earned one in Veracruz, and a second in Haiti. Dan Daley got his first during the Boxer Rebellion, and his second in Haiti.

 

[whitehall]

There is a lot of emotion involved in the Iwo Jima legacy and it extends to political loyalty and Semper Fi Marine pride. The cold hard fact is that America lost almost 7,000 Marines in a month. taking a smelly island six months before the end of the war in the Pacific. The initial mission statement was that Iwo Jima based fighter planes had to be suppressed from harassing American bombers bound for Japan. That's it.

 

[Sunni Man]

Keeping Japanese fighters from harassing U.S. bombing raids was a lame reason for invading Iwo. Iwo Jima was considered by the Japanese to be part of the homeland. For some reason the Navy refused to shell the island for the time requested by the Marines. What else did they have to do? My guess is that the Navy was instructed not to annihilate the island but to leave Japanese defenders alive to see how fanatically they would fight for the homeland. Marines were sacrificed in an effort to determine the Japanese willingness to fight for their homeland while the "Bomb" was being developed.

^^^^. Your entire post is retarded. ...

 

[Mushroom]

It's about opinion and discussion and in this case your opinion was wrong bout Saipan. The Bushido Japanese may have looked down on mixed blood people who made a living from the sea but they considered Iwo Jima to be part of the Japanese empire and they spent forty years fortifying the island.

OK, then give us some facts about Iwo Jima being fortified back at the turn of the century.

Good luck there, as I know for a fact it was not. It was hastily reinforced in the months prior to the invasion.

And Japan was much more concerned about Saipan. They indeed spent over a decade fortifying that island, and to them it was a very important part of Japan. And it was home to almost 30,000 civilians. Mostly families. Where as Iwo Jima was essentially a work duty, filled by single men as digging sulfur out of the ground is nasty work.

And no, if you are trying to talk about factual events like WWII, you need to present facts, not opinion. This is not a political debate, your opinion matters about as much as a bowl of dog snot in such a topic. History does not give a damn about what your opinions are. Of course, there are also a lot of garbage "historical books" floating around now, because many can not keep the two apart and have to inject their opinions into them.

Oh, and the Japanese opinion about those not of full Japanese descent is not unique to the Showa era. In fact, it is only in the last few decades that such people were finally given full recognition in their society. But even to this day, those not living in the "Home Islands" are often looked down upon. It is still a hot topic among those that live on Okinawa. As those on the mainland tend to see them as stupid people, who take nothing in life seriously and just sleep and screw all the time. You might say that they are the "West Virginia" of Japan.

 

[Sunni Man]

I was honored to meet this man a few years before his death and have him autograph his book at a local gun show
a real gentleman

WWII Marine Corps Hero RV Burgin Dies at 96 Sea Technology magazine

R.V. Burgin, a WWII Marine Corps hero, died Apr. 6 at the age of 96. Funeral services will be held today, Friday Apr. 12, near Dallas in Lancaster, Texas at the First Baptist Church at 2:00 p.m. Romus Valton Burgin joined the marines in 1942 and served in the Pacific theater, one of the most...

sea-technology.com

Romus Valton Burgin joined the marines in 1942 and served in the Pacific theater, one of the most violent parts of the war, including the Battle of Okinawa and the Battle of Peleliu. The horrors he witnessed were captured in his book, “Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific,” and the HBO series “The Pacific” produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks in 2010.

R.V. Burgin being interviewed.
It's well worth the time to watch. ....