Iwo Jima: Lest we forget

The battle for Iwo Jima began on Feb.19, 1945.  This was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands, and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Of the more than 18,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, only 34 were taken prisoner. The rest were killed or were reported missing and assumed dead.
The fighting lasted more than month, and the American losses were horrific -- 6,822 Marines dead, another 19,217 wounded. Put into modern perspective, in ten years, 6,600 Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Remember the fallen Marines; click on the headline.