IWO JIMA: MEMORIES IN SAND
Survivors return to honor their dead,
Reconcile with their enemy,
And reflect on their lives marked by war.
Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand is the story of the battle of Iwo Jima told by veterans who returned to the island of black volcanic sand for the 50th Commemoration ceremonies held there in 1995. They were joined by Japanese veterans on a similar voyage of peacemaking and remembrance. The story begins with the battle of Iwo Jima and expands to encompass the story of the B-29 bombers, the families left behind in the United States, the Japanese defenders, and the atomic bombing of Japan. Interviewees include former members of the Marines, Air Corps, and Naval Construction Battalion. Returning to the island of Iwo Jima for the first time in fifty years, they revisit the past and reflect on how their war experiences affected them over the years.
This generation of veterans is now dying by the hundreds and thousands, and their stories will soon pass from living memory. Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand captures the emotional core of their experience and reflects on the tragedy of war.
HISTORY:
By
the spring of 1945, United States forces had won land and naval battles across
the Pacific, compelling the Japanese forces to retrench in island groups close
to Japan. By 1945, and at the cost of a great many lives on both sides of the
conflict, the U.S. had taken Midway, Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Roi Namur, Tarawa,
Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The world’s
largest air base was built on the Micronesian island of Tinian in late 1944 and
the U.S. began a heavy bombing campaign against Japanese cities and military
installations. The new B-29 bombers could barely make it the 1500 miles from
Tinian to Japan and back. Damaged bombers and those that ran out of fuel had to
ditch in the ocean, and many lives were lost.
The Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima offered a remedy: in American hands, it would provide a safe haven for damaged B29s to land. Japanese radar would also be knocked out. For the first time, the U.S. forces would breach the outer edge of the Japanese empire. On February 19, 1945, after 70 days of heavy naval bombardment, thousands of U.S. Marines from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions landed on Iwo Jima and entered one of the deadliest battlefields in the history of warfare.
For
the first time in World War II, the Japanese had built such an extensive
network of tunnels and underground bunkers that their army was able to wage war
almost entirely from underground. The Marines found that they could not see
their enemy, but that their enemy could clearly see them. There were heavy
casualties on the landing beaches, but the Americans fought on and took Mt.
Suribachi on the fourth day of fighting. The battle was to continue for 33 more
days. When the fighting was finally over, 6,000 Marines and 20,000 Japanese
soldiers were dead. U.S. forces had suffered 20,000 more casualties. Only 1,000
Japanese survived the battle.
The
first damaged B-29s began to make emergency landings on Iwo even before the
island was declared secure. It is estimated that as many as 20,000 air crew
members’ lives were
saved over time by the taking of Iwo Jima. The U.S. went on to invade Okinawa
and prepare for an autumn 1945 land invasion of mainland Japan. The troops
assigned to invade Japan were preparing to board ships in Honolulu when they
got word that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had caused the
Japanese to surrender unconditionally. The long and bitterly fought war, at
last, was over.