US troops land at Iwo Jima

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.2.2: Japanese Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Mats Arne Karlsson (University of Sydney), Roy Anthony Starrs (University of Otago)

Domains

Battle

Dates

Date of occurrence 1945-02-19

Places

Japan (Location)
United States (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

The Pacific island of Iwo Jima was home to fierce fighting during World War II. The Japanese held the island until early 1945. The island was strategically important because, if occupied by the United States, it could serve as a base for U.S. fighter planes and long-range bombers. On 19 February, two Marine divisions landed on the island, followed shortly thereafter by a third Marine division. The Japanese military defenders protected themselves from long-range bombardment by constructing an elaborate system of tunnels and by hiding in underground caves. In the battle, over 21,000 Japanese troops were killed and over 1,000 captured. By contrast, U.S. casualties totalled 28,000, including nearly 7,000 killed. After the American victory, the U.S. occupied Iwo Jima but returned the island…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

124 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "US troops land at Iwo Jima". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3153, accessed 08 May 2024.]

Save this article