Iwo Jima Anniversary

[AssKissinger]

It's the anniversary of one of history's bloodiest battles.

Japanese veterans of Iwo have always been in short supply as fewer than 1,000 of the island's 22,000 defenders survived the 36-day battle in February-March 1945.

[AssKissinger]

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1394143.htm

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, wants to travel to Iwo Jima on Sunday to honour those who died in one of the Second World War's bloodiest Pacific battles.

Mr Koizumi would be the first Japanese prime minister to attend ceremonies for those who lost their lives in the epic 1945 battle.

Japan's ties with China and South Korea have been strained over Mr Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shinto shrine, where war criminals convicted by a 1948 tribunal are honoured along with Japan's 2.5 million war dead.

In conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the war's end, Japan's Emperor Akihito will travel to the U.S. Pacific territory of Saipan which was also a major battlefield.

[Blah Pete]

Iwo Jima is closed off to visitors. The only people there are JMSDF, JASDF, US Navy and J-Maritime police. The US Navy shifted night landing operations there from Atsugi base in Kanagawa Pref. to reduce noise.

The whole island is basically a grave yard. So many were killed and the bodies not recovered. You can walk around after a rain storm and find human bones, skulls. All the artillery used in the battle was like putting a dump truck load of dirt on the dead.
I think that the Jietai send people out tp collect the bones and put then in a memorial.