Iwo Jima Supplies

Military personnel unload landing craft nosed up on the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima beach, which was stormed hours earlier by U.S. Marines on February 19, 1945. The Times reported on its front page, “American Marines, their path cleared by the most intensive neutralization campaign of the Pacific war, have landed on the strategic little Iwo Island, one of the Volcano group, 750 statute miles south of Tokyo.”

Men and ships had to be moved thousands of miles, with split-second timing, to make the invasion successful, General James V. Forrestal told The Times on February 23, 1945. “I found a sense of order and direction on our narrow, constricted beaches which is the one funnel to pour everything ashore for the support of more than two divisions of Marines,” said the general.

On that same day, atop Mount Suribachi on the island, an iconic photograph was taken of the American flag being raised by six U.S. Marines. The photo appeared on the front page of The Times and other newspapers around the world on February 26. The Battle of Iwo Jima would rage on until March 26, when the island was captured from Japan.

This photograph from The Times Photo Archives was taken by a U.S. Coast Guard photographer.