Courageous battle vow.

[**The following takes place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima.**] >The dim candlelight illuminated the “Courageous Battle Vow” posted on the wall, as he [**General Kuribayashi, commander of Japanese forces on Iwo Jima**] had ordered it posted on the walls of all the bunkers, caves, and blockhouses on the island. It read: >>*We are here to defend this island to the limit of our strength. We must devote ourselves to that task entirely. Each of our shots must kill many Americans. We cannot allow ourselves to be captured by the enemy. If our positions are overrun, we will take bombs and grenades and throw ourselves under the tanks to destroy them. We will infiltrate the enemy’s lines to exterminate him. No man must die until he has killed at least ten Americans. We will harass the enemy with guerrilla actions until the last of us has perished. Long live the Emperor!* ________________________ **Source:** Bradley, James, and Ron Powers. “Armada.” *Flags of Our Fathers*. Bantam Dell, a Division of Random House, Inc., 2006. 147-48. Print. ________________________ **Further Reading:** [Battle of Iwo Jima / Operation Detachment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Iwo_Jima) ___________________________ **If you enjoy this type of content, please consider donating to my [Patreon]( https://www.patreon.com/HistoryLockeBox)!**