Anniversary of the Battle for Iwo Jima
From February 19 to March 26, 1945, the United States Navy and Marine Corps executed Operation Detachment, the code name for the 36-day American invasion and capture of the heavily fortified Japanese island of Iwo Jima. The tiny volcanic island represented a critical staging area for the United States to launch attacks on the Japanese main islands, and the battle for its capture was one of the bloodiest engagements of World War II.
Clip of "Flag Raising on Iwo Jima" (See the clip on and longer footage in the [Identifier 76433)
On the fifth day of Operation Detachment, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the iconic photograph of six Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi. The photo was later used as the model for the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
Although not as well-known as Rosenthal鈥檚 photograph, there is also a moving image record of the flag-raising. Marine Sergeant William Homer Genaust shot of the event. Unfortunately, Sergeant Genaust never left Iwo Jima. Nine days after filming the raising of the flag, he was hit by enemy fire, and his body was never recovered. Sergeant Genaust鈥檚 is in the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Catalog.
Explore more records in the relating to the Iwo Jima battle. Research World War II and other military records at the 威尼斯人娱乐场.
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Gallery of Images
Flag raising on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945. (Photo by Joe Rosenthal, Associated Press, )
Marines of the 4th Division shell Japanese positions concealed back from the beaches. ()
A Japanese position at the base of Mount Suribachi is eliminated by a high-explosive charge set off by the invading Marines. ()
Fourth Division Marines are pinned down by enemy fire on the beach at Iwo Jima. (Photo by T. Sgt. H. Neil Gillespie, )
Smashed by Japanese mortar and shellfire, amtracs and other vehicles of war lay knocked out on the black sands of Iwo Jima. ()
"Butch," a Doberman pinscher Marine War Dog, stands guard as his partner, Private Rez Hester of Liberty, NC, catches some sleep in a foxhole on Iwo Jima. ()
Marines slide a poncho under Cpl. W. H. Porter, who was wounded by Japanese mortar fire on Iwo Jima, preparatory to bearing him away for hospital care. (Photo by Sgt. Don Fox, )