Battle of Iwo Jima: From the Beaches to Arlington

On the morning of 19 February 1945, the first wave of Marines came ashore at 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, on the beaches of the island's southeastern coast. The ground fought them at once: amphibious tractors could not get traction in the black volcanic ash and made no progress up the slopes above the beach, so the Marines had to dismount and slog forward on foot.

Location precision: The landing beaches lay along the southeast coast; the pin marks the island as a whole.

On 23 February 1945 a patrol of Marines climbed Mount Suribachi at the island's southern end. A length of Japanese water pipe among the wreckage served as a flagpole for the American flag, the first foreign flag to fly on Japanese soil. Later that day a second, larger flag went up and six Marines raised it, as shown in Rosenthal's photograph.

The island was declared secure on 16 March, 25 days after the landings, but the fight was not over. General Kuribayashi's main stronghold lay in a gorge 640 metres long at the northwestern end of the island. On 21 March the Marines destroyed the command post there with four tons of explosives.

Location precision: The gorge is not pinned in the sources used here; the pin marks the island as a whole.

The Rosenthal photograph was turned into bronze by sculptor Felix de Weldon. The colossal group shows the six Marines who raised the second and largest of the two flags on Mount Suribachi, and it was dedicated on 10 November 1954 at Arlington National Cemetery. The sculpture group is the centerpiece of the memorial.

Visitor guidance: The memorial stands next to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

On 19 February 1985, the 40th anniversary of the landings, veterans of both forces gathered just yards from where the Marines had come ashore. A plaque there reads that American and Japanese veterans "met again on these same sands, this time in peace and friendship." Its English text faces the landing beaches and its Japanese text faces inland, where the defenders had held their positions.

Location precision: The memorial stands near the landing beach; the pin marks the island as a whole.