"Worth the Cost? Justificaton of the Iwo Jima Invasion" Topic

"On the morning of February 19, 1945, James Vedder, combat surgeon for the 27th Regiment, 5th Marine Division, waited for his landing craft to touch the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima, the island that would serve as the doctor's first test in combat. Undoubtedly anxious, he could at least console himself with the thought that planners expected only a two-day offensive, with a third day dedicated to mopping up enemy resistance.

U.S. commanders predicted that the assault force of 80,000 combat-hardened marines could rapidly traverse the island neutralized from bombardment, either destroying the Japanese in their defensive positions or mowing them down in waves if they launched desperate banzai attacks. The navy had originally scheduled these same three divisions for use in the Okinawa invasion just 30 days later, demonstrating that it did not consider the operation very difficult, at least initially…."
Main page

link

Amicalement
Armand

Hind sight is a wonderful thing.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Yes it was costly but the right strategy. Remember they would need Iwo and other islands as support as support for the invasion of Japan.
The planners had no idea about the nuclear bomb or that the Japanese would surrender. The Japanese had shown no sign of willing surrender.
So it would be needed to support Cornet and Olympic.

Where did the claim that 2,251 B-29s landed on Iwo Jima. How many B-29's served in XXI Bomber Command?

I think that meant B-29s landed 2,251 times on Iwo(?). Not that there was 2,251 B-29s in XXI Bomber Command(?). That is what I read it to mean. A B-29 could land more than once on Iwo, and as we know they flew many missions, etc. Not all were shot down, most in fact made it back, IIRC.