[The following is in regards to the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Theatre of World War II.]
By the end of D+ 3, the volcano known as Hot Rocks was surrounded, except for a four-hundred-yard gap on the western coast. Surrounded, but still dangerous: Some of the defenders who remained were still determined killers, and no one knew when or where one might emerge with a grenade or a machine gun. As night fell, however, the Japanese themselves greatly reduced that danger via a highly uncharacteristic action: voluntary abandonment.
It involved only half the remaining force, but it amounted to an acknowledgement that the mountain fortress was finished. The order was given by Suribachi’s commanding officer, Colonel Kanehiko Atsuchi. As one hundred fifty soldiers burst from the mountain in a desperate race to join up with the forces to the north, they were cut to pieces by Marines only too happy to deal with a visible enemy. Only about twenty-five made it through the gauntlet. When they arrived at the headquarters of the Japanese navy guard, their reception was not much better. The captain in charge, Samaji Inouye, accused their lieutenant of being a traitor and unsheathed his sword to behead the man. The lieutenant meekly bowed his neck, but a junior officer stopped him before he could swing his blade. Captain Inouye then collapsed in incontrollable sobs. “Suribachi’s fallen,” he moaned. “Suribachi’s fallen.”
Source:
Bradley, James, and Ron Powers. “D-Day Plus Three.” Flags of Our Fathers. Bantam Dell, a Division of Random House, Inc., 2006. 197. Print.
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