[National Archives and Records Administration]
By early 1945, Bill Henderson, an operations officer with the 5th Marine Division, was preparing to land on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. It was a crucial step in the march towards Japan – the soldiers simply had to take the island. A flotilla of hundreds of ships – including the Battleship USS North Carolina – bombarded Iwo Jima to soften it up for the invasion but unfortunately, they had little effect. The Japanese were hiding in miles of tunnels and caves that the massive firepower hardly touched. The Marines had no idea what awaited them. Enemy troops held their fire until the 5th or 6th wave, when Henderson and his men arrived and then, let loose with everything they had from the mountain high above the beach. Henderson describes some of the chaos and carnage – a nightmare that left the beach littered with bodies. It took five hard fought days before the Marines were able to plant the U.S. flag atop the mountain named Mount Surabachi – bringing on an eruption of cheers and ship horns. Later, when Henderson’s bedraggled troops prepared to leave the island, they marched beside the freshly dug graves in silence – paying their respects to colleagues who would not return home.
William Henderson in Iwo Jima
