Photographs from the Battle of Iwo Jima

26-G-03284511 A weary Marine is snapped by a Coast Guard combat photographer sprawled in slumber on Iwo Jima’s ashy sands and gripping his sheath knife against enemy intrusion upon his rest. It is during a lull in the fighting to secure the Iwo beachhead, when Marines and Coast Guardsmen caught what sleep they could in foxholes and shell craters.

26-G-0328455 Marines and Coast Guard beach parties set up for business on Iwo Jima only a few yards from the water’s edge and under the thickly placed guns of the volcanic fortress, Mount Suribachi. using shell craters for foxholes, they have set up communications and command posts for the landing of reinforcements and the assaults against Iwo’s airfields and the cave-pitted volcano.

26-G-0328459 Exhausted from fighting to establish the Iwo Jima beachhead, two Navy Seabees and a Marine from a Coast Guard-manned LST relax in the grey volcanic ash of the battle-scarred beach for a nap. Empty shell cases testify to the fury of the battle.

26-G-2185 Its decks jammed to the rails with trucks, jeeps and other motorized equipment, a Coast Guard-manned LST steams into the calm waters of Tanahmerah Bay, Dutch New Guinea, as American amphibious forces spring their smashing invasion of this strategic area. At the right is a cargo carrier and in the distance other LSTs have hit the beach and dropped their ramps.

26-G-4052 Bows aground on the silt-like sand of the shore of Iwo Jima, Coast Guard-manned landing craft are inanimate witnesses to the grim struggle put up by Marines against the entrenched defenders of the vital base. At the right in the background rises the hulking slope of ominous Mount Suribachi, volcanic peak turned into a miniature “Gibraltar” by the Japanese. Offshore, vessels of the invasion armada line the horizon.

26-G-4053 Shell bursts bloom on the lava-crusted slopes of Mount Suribachi, Volcano peak converted by the Japanese into a miniature “Gibraltar” for the defense of Iwo Jima. Pitted with caves and crevasses, and 546 feet high, the mountain commands all the southern approaches to the base, and was one of the first objectives of the Marine attack groups, landed by Coast Guard-manned and Navy landing craft. At the right is a battleship hammering the mountain with the full power of its guns.

26-G-4054 Crouching behind every available cover, Marines of the first assault waves gather their resources for the first push inland from the beach at Iwo Jima. They swept in shore in landing barges manned by Coast Guard and Navy crews. Entrenched in formidable fortifications, the Japanese defended the island with fanatical fury.

26-G-4055 Slashing through waters girding Iwo Jima, Coast Guard-manned and Navy landing boats, loaded with Marines, open the battle for the vital Japanese stronghold in the Volcano Islands, only 750 miles from Tokyo. In the background are ships of the vast Navy invasion armada.

26-G-4058 Off the fire-swept beaches of Iwo Jima, known as “Hell’s Acre,” AMTRACKS loaded with Marines emerge from the depths of a Coast Guard-manned LST, at right, and surge toward shore. This picture was made on D-Day as assault forces moved in toward the bloodiest battle in the Pacific war.

26-G-4061 Wounded when Japanese fire made a direct hit on an AMTRAC, a Marine is transferred by Coast Guardmen to a landing boat off theflaming shore of Iwo Jima on D-Day. After darting in with boatloads of Marines, Coast Guard-manned landing craft ran back to sea with casualties to LSTs. Especially fitted as temporary hospital ships. Intense enemy fire exacted a heavy toll as the beachhead was established on the Volcanic Island Fortress only 750 miles from Tokyo.

26-G-4089 Beyond the gun barrel of a Coast Guard-manned landing barge rises ominous Mount Suribachi, the volcano on the southern tip of Iwo Jima. Heavily fortified by the Japanese, Suribachi lava encrusted sides and caves erupted with deadly fire when the Marines stormed beachward from alligators and Coast Guard-manned landing boats on February 19. The historic day when the great Navy task force kicked in Tokyo’s “front door”.

26-G-4091 Alligators with Marines from a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport swing past the mighty USS Tennessee as she pours broadsides of shells into enemy emplacements on Iwo Jima. It is H-Hour and the landing craft await the signal to storm Iwo’s beaches, the moment the bombardment by the huge Navy task force ceases.

26-G-4092 Out of the great mouths of Coast Guard-manned and Navy LST’s, amtracs crawl through the waters off Futatsune Beach to land Marines on thefire-raked shore of Iwo Jima. These are the early waves, rolling in after a terrific Navy bombardment to dig in a foothold on the blackend sands of the Volcanic Islands.

26-G-4098 Out of the gaping mouths of Coast Guard-manned and Navy landing craft, rose the great flow of invasion supplies to the blackened sands of Iwo Jima, a few hours after the Marines had wrested their foothold on the vital island in the front yard of Tokyo. Under raking fire from emplacements concealed at each end of Futatsuma Beach, the early waves secured a beachhead but suffered heavy casualties.

26-G-4099 Hitting the beaches from amtracs and Coast Guard-manned landing craft, Marines of the first waves dig foxholes in Iwo Jima’s sands, blackened by volcanic ash spewed from Mount Suribachi. Under deadly crossfire from Japanese guns and mortars, the Marines seek cover from every available piece of equipment, bogged down in the clutching sands. This picture was made on D-Day, as the foothold at the base of the volcano was being secured and extended inland.

26-G-4101 Beyond the bow doors of this Coast Guard-manned LST lie the beaches of Iwo Jima, that tiny volcanic island which became known as “Hell’s Acre.” Before the battle was joined, Army chaplain James R. Coffee (right), of Ault, Colorado, blesses and baptizes Coast Guardsmen Lawrence R. Turnquist, Seaman Second Class, of Chicago, Illinois. A short time after, the bow doors, at left in the picture, yawned open and Coast Guardsmen Turnquist went forth with the forces storming the fire-swept shores of the Pacific stronghold.

26-G-4104 On the deck of a Coast Guard-manned LST, the chaplain leads religious services as the ship moves close to the beaches of Iwo Jima and the toughest battle of the Pacific war. In this congregation of young fighting men are Coast Guardsmen, Marines, Navy Seebees and Army troops. Their spirit strong for the supreme test ahead.

26-G-4114 Casualties from Iwo Jima’s beach of hellfire are hoisted aboard a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport lying just off the landing area. The cost of this beachhead was high and soon the ship’s quarters were filled with wounded Marines. Its sick bay was converted into an operating room. Coast Guard landing boat crews took in the Marines and came out with the casualties.

26-G-4118 On the littered beach of Iwo Jima, members of a Coast Guard beach party rest up while they await a boat to run them back to their invasion transport standing off thebattle-swept island. They have passed three days and nights on the Pacific speck called “Hell’s Acre,” setting up communications between ships and shore to expedite landing operations.

26-G-4119 The flag-draped body of a Marine, who gave his life for the beachhead of Iwo Jima, is consigned to the sea from a Coast Guard-manned invasion transport laying off the battle-swept volcanic island south of Iwo Jima. The Marine guard, still in battle gear, stands at “parade rest” as the dead hero is given over to the Pacific just as night falls.

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