The island Iwo Jima was founded by a sailor Bernardo de la Torre and name it sulfur island in October 1543. Iwo Jima was a battle between America and the Japanese that took place on February 19th 1945 D-day during World War II. D-day was also known as the day which combat attack will be initiated. That day there was 450 plus ships lined up on the shores of the island. Iwo Jima was part of a three point plan that the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. Iwo Jima is a very small pacific island 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide covered in volcanic rock. It is located at the foot of the Bonin Chain of Islands south of the main Japanese Island of Honshu. Although the Island is quite small it is considered to the Great tactical importance. Since the island was so important the Japanese were determined to keep control of it. …show more content…
Motoyama number two was located in the center of the island where there was rising ground these were used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to Japan. Also used as a runway for take-off. The first landing was on February 19th, 1945 there were 22,000 soldiers under command of lieutenant General Kuribayashi, he was the commander for all forces. The flights landing purpose was to churn up the beaches and the immediate hinterland which gave the Japanese a better chance of finding a hiding hole. It also meant that American movement inland was hindered as the area had been so heavily bombed. At 2:00 A.m. on February 19th the pre-invasion of bombardment started. For three days prior to the attack, six American battleships had launched a continuous barrage on the