In the Afternoon

The Marines were met with little resistance upon the initial assault of Iwo Jima. Unaware that the full force of the Japanese army was waiting inland, U.S. forces were fatally exposed as they began their push to take the island’s airfields. The Japanese counterattack of indirect and direct fire that followed resulted in severe American casualties as they fought to gain ground and knock out Japanese positions.

Courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration