02/19/2026
🗣️The Battle of Iwo Jima began at 9:00 a.m. on February 19, 1945, when the first wave of U.S. Marines deployed onto the island’s "Black Sands." Nearly 70,000 Marines and Navy personnel landed on the volcanic shores with the objective of capturing three vital airfields.
However, the impossible terrain of soft, shifting ash offered no cover, leaving the troops dangerously exposed to an entrenched and aggressive Japanese defense.
What was originally projected as a 10-day operation spiraled into 36 days of relentless, deadly combat, cementing Iwo Jima as one of the most significant and bloodiest chapters in U.S. Marine Corps history.