World War II Photograph

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.