Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand
Marines who fought on Iwo Jima return return after 50 years to reflect on World War II in the Pacific.
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 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, families left behind in the United States, doomed 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.
Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand was nationally broadcast on PBS, won a CINE Golden Eagle, and screened at film festivals in the US and abroad.
Released 2001
History
By the spring of 1945, United States forces had won land and naval battles across the Pacific, compelling the Japanese forces to retrench on islands close to Japan. By 1945, and at the cost of many lives on both sides, 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.
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 U.S. 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, and battle raged for over a month. When the fighting was finally over, 6,000 Marines and 20,000 Japanese soldiers were dead. 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 was over.
Select Festivals and Awards:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Yamagata International Film Festival
Broadcast nationally on PBS
“Full Frame Documentary Shorts Vol. 2” compilation, representing some of the best films from America’s premiere documentary film festival.
“On the 50th anniversary of the battle for Iwo Jima, veterans from both sides of the conflict return to the tiny Japanese island to relive and remember that awful episode near the end of World War II. Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand does a remarkable job of capturing the individual terror experienced by the soldiers on both sides of the conflict. The reading of prepared letters (to be sent to loved ones in case of a soldier’s death) is just startling. Hearing the Japanese children’s letters to their own soldiers shows us a side of the war we usually don’t view. Many of the elderly veterans cry easily and often, recalling the horrible loss of life on these bloody fields of fire. We never lose a single, important word of wisdom from these true survivors.”
Bill Gibron, DVDVerdict.com
“In recent years, many of the veterans from both sides have been able to return to Iwo Jima for a pilgrimage. The footage for the present video was made on the 50th anniversary. I was privileged to return with some veterans on the 55th anniversary, and participated in the commemoration. On their treks along the landing beaches, and at some of the sites of their desperate struggles, their faces were grim and often unabashedly tearful. No longer were they adversaries but rather melancholy witnesses to a past fury which is today unimaginable. The present video captures the remembrances of the veterans, and in doing so conveys the horror of their human struggle and the absurdity of war. When finally the experience passes entirely from human memory, we will have this poignant video to remind us. Lest we forget.”
Dirk Anthony Ballendorf, Professor of History and Micronesian Studies, University of Guam
“What was it like for young Japanese and American boys to fight each other on Iwo Jima? We who were not there cannot fathom the horror. But Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand brings us as close to the experience as we can ever get.”
James Bradley, Author, Flags of Our Fathers
“It is possible to think of this film as a prayer or a requiem mass. For Marines who fought on Iwo Jima, the experience is not over. Even the dead live on in the lives of the survivors. The film asks us to touch that black sand and listen to the stories of the survivors….”
Steve Fay, Beloit College
