World War II Photograph

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”.