[2banana]

The battle for Iwo Jima was another costly campaign. What started as a quick, violent attack on February 19, 1945, turned into 36 days of some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting the Marines had encountered. The first day saw 2,400 American casualties. By the end of the campaign 71,245 Marines had been put ashore; of these, 5,931 were killed in action, and 17,372 wounded and, in all, Allied forces suffered 27,909 casualties, with 6,825 killed in action. Those are the brutal consequences of war.

Just read a book about this battle (So Sad to Fall in Battle) written from the Japanese perspective.

The Japs at the time were just as committed to death and killing as the mulsim terrorist are today. Their goal was to kill as many Americans as possible, as then kill just one more as they died in glory for the emperor. Their goal was to inflict so many American casualties that the Americans would think twice about invading Japan or look for negotiations.

The Japs made good on their plan. It is one of the few pacific battles in which the Americans took more casualties than the Japanese (WIA + KIA).

In the end, the Americans won by massive firepower and killing anything that moved. One line that sticks out in my mind when the Japs were watching the Americans advance with flamethrowers, tanks and infantry, "They fight like they are exterminating insects."

Yep.

[stuartcr]

Yes, it would be hard to understand if you came from a culture that considered combat and death in combat to be a virtuous honor.