Iwo Jima has always been beautiful, a volcanic chunk of rock surrounded by cobalt sea. But a World War II battle 80 years ago this month turned the Japanese island into a byword for desperate, deadly combat — and for American triumph.
On Feb. 23, 1945, a contingent of American Marines climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi, the highest point of Iwo Jima. Atop the rubble of war and volcanic eruption, they pitched forward and raised an American flag. A photographer for The Associated Press, Joe Rosenthal, snapped an image, indelible and iconic.
U.S. troops landed on Iwo Jima four days before they claimed Mount Suribachi. A Navy photographer made this image, which was transmitted from Guam by radio to San Francisco.
Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, second from left, in 1944. He led the Japanese forces defending the island and died there.
Sailing on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships, the Marines landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945.