THE ISLAND

Iwo Jima is a tiny, barren, desolate, and almost devoid of vegetation, sulfer island located 650 miles from Tokyo. Before the battle it was considered by the Japanses to be part of Japan.  To the US, Iwo Jima's importance lay in its location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Marianas.   It was one of the only islands in that part of the Pacific that was large enough and flat enough to put a runway on.

Since the summer of 1944, the Japanese home islands had been hit by  from strikes by the new, long range B-29's. The Americans, however, had no protective fighters with enough range to escort the big superfortresses.  Many aircraft were lost to Japanese fighter-interceptor attacks. Iwo Jima, with its three airfields, was ideally located as a fighter-escort station. It was also an ideal sanctuary for crippled bombers returning from Japan.  Both Japan and the United States needed Iwo Jima.
 
 

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        Lieutenant Wade discusses overall importance of target at pre-invasion briefing.                 Invasion of Iwo Jima, circa February 1945.             

             http://monitor.nara.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/12120/expert.txt

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