[Coop]

The planners actually thought that Iwo Jima would be lightly defended. Nimitz had no idea that the Japanese had been preparing an elaborate defensive network of caves, bunkers and tunnels. As a result, he failed to allocate enough aircraft or warships to seriously dent the enemy defenses before the infantry landings. This oversight consigned the Marines to what a war correspondent called "a nightmare in hell." And for what?

This is completely contrary to what I learned about Iwo Jima. As I recall, the island was subjected to a devastating barrage of naval gunfire, but the elaborate tunnel system kept most of the defenders protected.

[RushCrush]

That is what I have learned as well. We conducted massive strafing and air raids on this island, weakening enemy defenses, their resolve and their mental states. This type of revisionist history is crap. It's like something Ward Churchill would base his masters thesis on. I prefer to read things like: Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley

[Protagoras]

The enemy was not ON Iwo Jima, they were IN Iwo Jima.

And all of them were prepared for death in advance. Their job was to kill a certain number of GIs before they died. They accepted that.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

You are correct. They bombed the ____ out of Iwo before February 19^th, and they spent a lot of time doing it.

[ontos-on]

As I recall, the island was subjected to a devastating barrage of naval gunfire, but the elaborate tunnel system kept most of the defenders protected.

you are right of course. This is the kind of nonsense a person does when he gets a new job and tries to make his new masters happy.