The Battle of Iwo Jima Tee

If there were any living embodiment of hell it would be the Marine's landing at Iwo Jima. Strategically critical for Air Missions into the Japanese mainland, protected by a fierce enemy who would rather die, than surrender, who was going to make that American pay for every inch of ground they stepped upon.

The IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) would make Iwo Jima the Marines' bloodiest battle in its history, a bloody battle stretching thirty-six days (Feb 19, 1945-March 26, 1945) with twenty-seven thousand casualties on our side, seven thousand of which were deaths. The culmination of which was forever immortalized in the mounting of our flag upon Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi.

The sheer brutality of the fighting and the casualties compared to the enemies would also be a deciding factor in the nuclear strikes upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The examples of Iwo Jima and her sister Okinawa would demonstrate the sheer loss America would bear upon an assault on the mainland. Let it be, that their sacrifice is not forgotten as they tread upon,

Red Blood and Black Sand. 

Below are the names of the men who would raise our flag during that momentous battle.

Harlon Block,

Harold Keller,

Ira Hayes,

Harold Schultz,

Franklin Sousley,

Michael Strank.