As we've said several times (since reply nbr 2), it was several thousand aircraft that landed (to refuel, repair, or to prevent crash-landing in the water) - Each 10 crewmen onboard.
Were all 24,000 airmen saved? Yes.
Might SOME of those 24,000 not died (been somehow rescued at sea after crash-landing at night) had Iwo not been taken?
Maybe. How many?
Well, ole Strategist only a few would have died unnecessiarily.
My opinion is better than his, in my opinion, and I say that we know absolutely for certain that NOT ONE AIRMEN who landed at Iwo was killed by Japanese fire by landing - so, in my opinion, every one of them was saved by the 6,000 Marines who died.
And then, after all of this, the Air Force wanted to build the Air Force Memorial on a hill overlooking the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, VA.