Irony in the Pacific

Seventy years ago, on this date, February 23, 1945, as United States forces were in the midst of a struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, southeast of Japan,  a well known photograph in United States history was taken.  It is rather ironic that the battle for this small eight square mile atoll would see some of the deadliest exchanges during the second world war.  The photo would become one of the most iconic photographs if not in our nation's history, certainly in its military history.  Taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal, the photo depicts six men, five marines and one from the Navy, raising the stars and stripes over the island on top of Mount Suribachi.  The battle for the island would be further memorialized with the publication of a book titled Flags of Our Fathers, (a movie based on the book was also made) authored by the son of one of those in the photograph.  We all know the photo and perhaps a little bit behind the bloody battle, but little is recalled of what that bloody battle was able to produce for the war effort.  Perhaps we know so little, because this bloody battle produced very little in terms of strategic gain.

Raising US flag over Iwo Jima

The United States, fresh off island hopping victories in the South Pacific which showed supremacy of the American naval and air forces, found Iwo Jima as one of the islands on the route to the battle for Japan. Japan had three airfields on the island, and the main idea was to capture the island and use its air fields for a more aggressive effort on the Japanese homeland.  Military intelligence indicated little in terms of Japanese reinforcements on the island and held the belief that the island would fall in one week.  This would be one of those battles to prove that military intelligence is sometimes, perhaps often times, an oxymoron.

Location of Iwo Jima

Japanese commanders by this time had come to the realization that Pearl Harbor had indeed awaken a sleeping giant.  Their once highly thought of navy and their carriers which so damaged US interests a few years earlier, was now but a distant memory.  The once mighty air force was now short on planes, and even more short of experienced pilots thanks to the building US superiority, and perhaps the code of the kamikaze.  The Japanese would recognize that what was needed was a delay in order to give them time to develop defenses of the homeland.  They anticipated an invasion of the home islands.  To them, Iwo Jima could be used to delay and force concentration of forces on this small island.  In advancing this strategy they had reinforced the island with more troops, unbeknownst to the US.  Perhaps the Americans were duped into believing the strategic importance of Iwo Jima was more important than it actually would turn out to be.

Battle for Iwo Jima

Just because the island had three airfields for Japanese use, did not mean those airfields would assist the US movement to Japan.  In fact, the airfields, after having been rebuilt, would not be used to launch strikes on Japan.  Iwo Jima was useless to the US Army and Naval forces.  But at least the rebuilt airfields would provide an emergency landing strip for B-29 bombers.  It would turn out to be costly battle for an emergency landing field.  This would be the only battle where US Marine casualties would be greater than Japanese casualties.  22,000 Japanese troops were on the island and 18,844 were killed.  Of the rest, just over 200 would be taken prisoner.  Some would kill themselves rather than being taken prisoner.  Over 3,000 would continue to live in caves or tunnels located on the island, eventually giving up or dying from a variety of causes.  The US would have 26,000 casualties of which 6,800 were killed.

John Bradley

We have one of the most recognized of US military photos being taken on an island recognized now for its cost of life, and that such cost was far greater than its realized strategic importance.  The Rosenthal photo was the second flag raising that day.  After having raised the first, the men were asked to raise a larger flag.  Of the six, three would die during the war.  Of the three that survived, one was John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin.  It would be his son, James who would memorialize the flag raising in his book.

Those who raised the flag in the photo

John Bradley entered the Navy at the suggestion of his father as a way to avoid ground combat.  As fate would have it, he would become a Pharmacist's mate and later be assigned to the Marine's.  On March 12 of that year, Bradley would be injured from shrapnel and be awarded the Purple Heart.  He would then tour the US selling war bonds.  Bradley would settle back in Antigo and become a mortician owning his own funeral home.  He and his wife would raise eight children.  Like many in his generation, he would downplay his role saying he happened to be at the right time.  His wife was eventually able to persuade him to record his views as a memory for his grandchildren.  In that recording he would say, if he had known how famous the photo would become he would have declined participation.  However, in a letter to his parents after the event he would say it was the happiest moment in his life.  More importantly his wife would claim he had been tormented by his experiences during the war.

Book on the subject by James Bradley, son of John Bradley

We have an iconic photo in which at least one participant wished to remain rather anonymous, refusing to participate in events related to the photos or provide comment on the movies that would be popularized regarding the battle for the island (e.g the 1949 "Sands of Iwo Jima"). Yet, it would be one of his children who would remind the nation of this event.  John Bradley, like many other soldiers, would rather not talk about his war experiences.  Rather,he, like most of the others, saw themselves as one band of brothers dutifully performing what was required.  Iwo Jima in part of nation's military lore, and like many other military adventures it had a high cost for little gain.  It is interesting, or perhaps appropriate, that the Second World War's iconic photograph was taken on a small volcanic island in the Pacific.  It shows the breadth and fog of war.

Marine Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery

 Photos from Google images