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00:00February 1945. For almost six years, Adolf Hitler's Germany and its Axis partners have
00:07seemed unconquerable. But now the tide has turned and the Allies advance on all fronts.
00:15Bombs rain down on Axis cities as the Allies prepare to invade the enemy's homeland. Here
00:21begins the final six-month march of triumphant conquests, brutal campaigns and untold suffering.
00:31The last days of World War II will follow these events week by week. From the final fanatical
00:40resistance of the Third Reich to the brutality of Pacific Island warfare and the weapon that
00:46marked its apocalyptic conclusion.
01:11February 1945. Germany is under attack from all sides.
01:15The Third Reich is pounded day and night by Allied bombers. Ancient cities like Cologne
01:20now lie in ruins. On the Western Front, Allied troops have repulsed Hitler's Ardenne offensive
01:26in the Battle of the Bulge. His ill-conceived attack cost his army dearly. Now the Allies
01:31resume their advance, crossing the border with less resistance than anticipated. But the next
01:37major obstacle looms, the River Rhine.
01:42In Italy, Allied forces including the British Eighth Army are preparing to launch a new offensive.
01:48They wait for the weather to clear.
01:54The Soviet juggernaut continues to roll in from the east. Fighting rages as Soviet units
02:00race to the River Oda, the last natural barrier before Berlin. The Red Army had conquered Budapest
02:06on the 13th of February. Most of the Balkans are occupied.
02:11In Burma, General Slim's 14th Army is on the road to Mandalay. The back of the Imperial Japanese
02:17Army had been broken the year before at Impal and Kohima. But Japanese resistance remains fierce.
02:24In the Pacific, the U.S. island hopping campaign begins its bloodiest phase on the 19th of February. The first of 60,000 U.S. Marines
02:34scramble ashore on a tiny volcanic island, 650 miles south from Japan. For the first time in centuries, foreign troops
02:43have set foot on Japanese soil. At first, it seems as though the Japanese are not at home.
02:48But this is the beginning of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Operation Detachment.
02:54The battle for Iwo Jima.
03:01What surprises the Marines who try to capture Iwo Jima is not the fanaticism of their enemy, but his cleverness. The Japanese are going to fight a different kind of war in Iwo Jima.
03:13What they're going to do is they're going to dig down deep. They're going to put themselves in fortified caves and pillboxes and bunkers. They're going to camouflage themselves. They're going to let the Americans come to them.
03:26At the peak of its power, the Japanese Empire had invaded Indonesia and Malaysia, controlled the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, all in the wake of her devastating attack on Pearl Harbour.
03:46At the end of 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt had met his senior commanders to agree a two-pronged strategy for the war with Japan.
03:56Admiral Chester Nimitz would direct an amphibious thrust across the Central Pacific, seizing island after island occupied by the Japanese.
04:10Simultaneously, General Douglas MacArthur would lead a drive through the Southwest Pacific, from the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to the Philippines.
04:19At Taiwan, the two forces would meet.
04:22Japan would be cut off from oil and other resources vital to its imperial forces.
04:29They were able to strangle Japan tighter and tighter and tighter, so the Japanese people are feeling the pinch.
04:36They have less food to eat, and they're getting more and more desperate.
04:41But the Allies were fighting an enemy that preferred death to surrender.
04:45February 1945, MacArthur had triumphantly returned to the Philippines.
04:53Allied forces are poised to take Manila.
04:56Nimitz's forces had faced a brutal 3,000-mile campaign of island hopping.
05:01His crucial next step on the way to mainland Japan was Iwo Jima.
05:05The Japanese named Iwo Jima Sulfur Island because it was a dormant volcano.
05:22There were sulfurous gases that came out of the ground.
05:26It was covered with volcanic ash and grit.
05:28The Americans who fought there, many of them, likened it to Dante's Inferno.
05:32It looked like a landscape of hell.
05:35As early as 1940, the Japanese began building landing strips there, from which they could launch attacks against Tinian, Saipan and Guam.
05:44The Americans desperately needed this strategic island of igneous rock.
05:47From the Marianas, B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers had begun to attack mainland Japan.
05:55But the Japanese air defences were proving unexpectedly effective, and B-29 losses were mounting.
06:01Iwo Jima had radar, which aided the Japanese air defence in trying to intercept the B-29s.
06:09So to capture, Iwo Jima would weaken Japan's air defences.
06:12Iwo Jima could be used as an emergency landing strip for B-29 bombers that sustained damage or developed engine trouble.
06:21And the planes often could be saved to fight again another day.
06:24The order to capture Iwo Jima was given to the legendary Marine, Lieutenant General Holland Smith.
06:30Nicknamed Howling Mad, Smith had been commander of Fleet Marine Forces Pacific since August 1944.
06:37A salty leatherneck, he led amphibious assaults on Tarawa and Saipan.
06:42Iwo Jima would be his toughest battle yet, and the toughest U.S. Marines had fought in their 169-year history.
06:53Under General Smith's command were three Marine divisions.
06:57The actual assault would be led by Major General Harry Schmidt, commander of the 4th Marine Division.
07:06Four regiments would land on the southeast beaches of the island.
07:10Now, as the battle begins, part of the 5th Division's 28th Regiment is ordered to cut across the island,
07:18while the rest of the division heads south towards Mount Suribachi.
07:23The 4th Division will swing north and east to secure the first airfield,
07:28and move on to clear the rest of the island.
07:30The U.S. commanders know that to secure the island, they will first have to take its highest point,
07:37the 550-foot-high extinct volcano, Mount Suribachi.
07:42Mount Suribachi is the highest point on Iwo Jima,
07:45and it was on the left flank to the south of the American landing beaches.
07:50You know, it towers over the entire island,
07:52and the Americans know that there are Japanese artillery observers there.
07:56All the heavy fire they're receiving from Japanese cannon and from mortars,
08:01they know is being directed at them from Suribachi.
08:05And in their eyes, it becomes kind of a focus of all the evil, all their problems, on Iwo Jima.
08:11Dug in on Iwo Jima,
08:13Smith's opponent will be Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi.
08:17He had few illusions about what he would face.
08:19In the 19th century, the Japanese army had been transformed from medieval to modern in just 30 short years.
08:27But it was still firmly entrenched in Bushido.
08:31Bushido literally means code of the warrior,
08:34and that was the ethical code of the Japanese samurai class, the knightly class.
08:41It stressed chivalry, self-sacrifice, utmost devotion to whatever master you're serving.
08:47Kuribayashi was a true Japanese warrior, born to a samurai family.
08:53But he had also studied in the United States before World War II,
08:56and insisted that Japan would never win a war against the immense resources of the U.S.
09:02At Iwo Jima, the Japanese would take a new and frightening approach.
09:06They would wait to attack U.S. troops as they moved inland.
09:09They were ordered to fight to the death,
09:11causing as many American casualties as they could in the process.
09:15I couldn't understand the dedication to die.
09:27I mean, they were told by their commanding general
09:30that before you as an individual die, you ought to kill 10 Marines.
09:34It's like the kamikaze pilots.
09:41I mean, it was hard for us to understand.
09:46We wanted to live. We didn't want to die.
09:49They knew they were going to live,
09:52but they wanted to do as much damage as they possibly could.
09:56They would come with any type of weapon they possibly could.
10:00Swords, hand grenades, anything that they possibly could get their hands on,
10:06and then come running towards us, almost like a suicide attack.
10:14Kuribayashi knew he must try to make the island impregnable,
10:17and then defended to the death.
10:20The result? One of the most ingenious fortresses in the history of warfare.
10:2511 miles of tunnels, tall enough for troops to run through.
10:29Electricity throughout.
10:31650 block houses and pillboxes.
10:35Even a hospital with 400 beds carved out of the rock walls.
10:40The Japanese were extremely clever in the areas of camouflage
10:50and hiding what they did,
10:52and also in constructing these underground bastions,
10:58which were linked by tunnels.
11:00I've heard and I've read about other Marines
11:03who at night would be lying on the ground
11:06and could hear voices coming from underneath them.
11:09That's sort of a spooky feeling.
11:12It was a killing field,
11:14built with the sweat of Korean slave labour.
11:17An unseen force of more than 21,000 Japanese troops
11:20waited underground with 22 million rounds of ammunition,
11:24waiting for the U.S. assault.
11:27Admiral Nimitz predicted the battle would take four days.
11:31Smith, ten.
11:35They would first implement the longest and heaviest bombardment
11:38of the Pacific War.
11:40Six weeks of daily bombing turned the island into a deadly inferno.
11:48800 warships close in,
11:50while thousands of young Marines brace themselves
11:52for the vicious battle ahead.
11:54They were well dug in,
11:56miles of tunnels and so the bombardment done nothing to them.
12:01There were still 20,000 Japanese waiting for us when we got there.
12:06The U.S. Marines hit the beaches
12:08and the struggle for Iwo Jima begins.
12:11The 19th of February, 1945.
12:22At 9 a.m., thousands of U.S. Marines land on the shores of Iwo Jima.
12:27At first, there is only light Japanese resistance,
12:30but the Marines know it's too good to last.
12:32We landed on Yellow Beach,
12:44just below the first airport.
12:49And as we got ashore,
12:51we had no resistance at all
12:54for the first 30, 40 minutes,
12:56and then all hell broke loose.
12:58The Japanese turned Iwo Jima
13:00into an eight-square-mile ambush site.
13:04And within an hour of the Americans getting ashore,
13:10they're under such heavy fire,
13:12they've never seen it before.
13:13In fact, one Marine said early on
13:16that there was so much stuff in the air,
13:19you could put up your cigarette and get it lit.
13:21The beach was littered with the wounded and the dead.
13:25The medics, or corpsmen, as they are called in the Navy,
13:29were supposed originally to go inland,
13:32but there was so much business for them on the beach,
13:34they never left the beach.
13:36There were bodies all over, parts of bodies.
13:39It was extremely agonizing for the Marines.
13:43Seeing their comrades are being just destroyed beside them.
13:48Shells crash into the packed landing beach.
13:51The beaches are made up of loose volcanic ash,
13:54making it impossible for the Marines to dig foxholes.
13:57There is little protection on offer
13:59from the incoming fire.
14:01It was like walking in mud.
14:04I mean, maybe mud's kind of wet.
14:07This was not wet.
14:08It was like talcum powder sometimes.
14:10And once the beach got crowded
14:12and the vehicles were stalled
14:14and things started backing up,
14:17that's when they opened fire on the beach.
14:21And they had it...
14:22They had the fire coming from Suribachi
14:26and they had it coming from the other end of the island.
14:29Then they could crisscross the beach
14:31with all sorts of fire,
14:33with machine gun fire, with mortar fire,
14:35with artillery.
14:38Dead and dying Marines litter the beach.
14:41Among the first to die
14:42is Gunnery Sergeant John Bassalone,
14:44seen here being interviewed
14:46by New York's Mayor Fiorella Lagardia.
14:49He had won the Marines' first Medal of Honor of the war
14:51on Guadalcanal in October 1942.
14:55He and his men are killed by a mortar shell
14:57shortly after reaching the shore.
14:59Bassalone's backpack was recovered
15:01on the beach by fellow Marines.
15:08The Japanese quickly pull their dead
15:10and wounded into the tunnels and caves,
15:12leaving little evidence
15:13that anyone is being killed apart from Marines.
15:16The Marines inch forward
15:18against a nearly invisible enemy.
15:20They must fight above ground,
15:22while the defending Japanese
15:23fight from below ground.
15:25As they move towards Mount Suribachi,
15:27the Marines on Iwo Jima
15:28rarely see a Japanese soldier.
15:32Yes, it was very, very strange
15:33not to see an enemy on Iwo.
15:35In fact, I only seen a couple
15:36of live Japanese myself.
15:39We didn't even realize
15:41that they would have their big guns,
15:45you know, on rails,
15:47but they could run in and out
15:48and hit us and go back in and be safe.
15:52That was something kind of brand new
15:54that we never had come across
15:56up until that point in time.
15:59There are countless acts of bravery,
16:01but the difference between life and death
16:03comes down to little more than luck.
16:05As the morning continues,
16:07waves of men continue to land
16:09and struggle in the soft volcanic ash.
16:11Tanks, too, get bogged down.
16:13It was rough to work
16:15and I was carrying 72 pounds on my back,
16:18you know,
16:19and try to run in this loose sand
16:21and you hit a ridge
16:22where you take a step
16:24and you go back a foot foot.
16:27It's getting grippy
16:28like you had to crawl up.
16:30One vehicle, however,
16:31is unencumbered by the terrain,
16:33the LVT,
16:34or landing vehicle tract.
16:36Their cleated tracts
16:37allow the vehicles
16:38to move freely
16:39over the powder-like beaches.
16:44LVTs were first designed
16:45to carry Marines
16:46and supplies ashore
16:47from a landing ship
16:48and then get them safely
16:49over the beach
16:50while under fire.
16:52Based on a hurricane rescue vehicle
16:53designed for use in Florida,
16:56military development
16:56began in 1939
16:58with the first production model
17:00completed in July 1941.
17:03Later model LVTs
17:04were armoured
17:05and amphibious
17:06and known as Amtraks.
17:12The vehicles used
17:13for the island campaign
17:14were a troop
17:15and cargo carrying version
17:16which could carry
17:17up to 25 men
17:19and one which mounted
17:20a 75mm gun
17:21for close support.
17:23Its top speed
17:24was up to 20mph on land
17:26and 10mph in water.
17:32437 Amtraks
17:33are used at Iwo Jima.
17:35A third of them
17:35will be lost in action.
17:48At the end of day one
17:50on Iwo Jima
17:50some 30,000 American Marines
17:53and thousands of tons
17:54of equipment are ashore
17:55on a beachhead
17:56just 4,400 yards long
17:58and 1,100 yards deep.
18:03But 566 Marines are dead
18:07and 1,755 lie wounded
18:10comparable to American losses
18:12at Omaha Beach on D-Day.
18:15The day's horrors
18:15will never be forgotten
18:16by those who survived.
18:18I think the one thing
18:21that anybody
18:22who has been in combat
18:24whether it was on Iwo
18:25or anyplace else
18:26would always remember
18:29the stench of death.
18:30not just visually
18:35seeing a buddy die
18:37or somebody
18:39you didn't even know
18:40but he's just another Marine
18:41and he's laying there dead
18:43but to go past
18:45row upon row
18:48of dead Marines
18:49and inhale
18:51that terrible, terrible
18:53smell of death
18:54is it permeates
18:55the brin
18:56and you never forget it.
19:00The 20th of February
19:01the Marines begin
19:02their advance
19:03to Mount Suribachi.
19:05Rain arrives
19:06and cold winds blow
19:07for the next three days.
19:09Rising surf
19:10makes landing difficult.
19:12Japanese mortar,
19:14rocket and artillery fire
19:15fall on the front lines
19:17and on the crowded beaches.
19:19The butchery continues
19:20as Marines
19:21suffer devastating losses
19:23yet see little evidence
19:24of the Japanese casualties
19:26they've inflicted.
19:28The dead Marines
19:30are not buried
19:30in individual graves
19:32as they were on Saipan
19:33but in mass bulldozed plots
19:3550 bodies at a time.
19:38The nightmarish scenes
19:39are taking their toll
19:40on morale.
19:42The thing that bothered me
19:42more than anything
19:44at night
19:44were the flares.
19:45They would just light up
19:52and it was a question
19:54of go away
19:55you know
19:55don't light up
19:57my foxhole
19:58you know
19:59but you knew
20:01that when the flares
20:02came down
20:02they or we
20:04became
20:04visible targets
20:06so when the flares
20:09went up
20:09you ducked
20:10but the nights
20:13were long
20:13cold
20:15it rained
20:16got wet
20:19dried out
20:20started all over again.
20:22The Japanese
20:22remain hidden
20:24entrenched
20:24in a maze
20:25of pillboxes
20:26caves
20:27and tunnels
20:28a man-made fortress
20:29in the mountains
20:30of Iwo Jima.
20:32The Americans
20:32learned to root
20:33the enemy out
20:34with flamethrowers.
20:35We were strictly
20:36after caves
20:37and pillboxes
20:38and anything
20:40that they couldn't
20:40get with a bullet.
20:41flamethrowers
20:43killed by burning
20:44and suffocating
20:45their victims.
20:48Used against
20:49an often underground
20:50well-protected enemy
20:51the flamethrower
20:52became one of the
20:53most vital weapons
20:54of the entire
20:55Pacific campaign.
20:58It weighs 72 pounds
21:00it carry
21:02you carry five gallons
21:03of jellied gasoline
21:04napalm
21:04and under good conditions
21:08you could get
21:0860 feet out of it.
21:10The flames
21:11would actually
21:12go into a cave
21:13and draw
21:14all the oxygen
21:15and anybody
21:16in there
21:17even if they're
21:18not touched
21:18by the flame
21:19the flamethrower
21:21would eat up
21:22all the oxygen
21:22and their lungs
21:24would collapse.
21:25So it was
21:27quite a weapon
21:28it was a fearsome weapon
21:29and heavily used
21:32in the Pacific.
21:33The modern flamethrower
21:35was first used
21:36by the German army
21:37during World War I.
21:39By the onset
21:39of World War II
21:40the Germans showed
21:41how effective
21:42flamethrowers could be
21:43against fortifications.
21:51The US army
21:52first tested flamethrowers
21:53in the 1920s
21:55but it wasn't
21:55until August 1940
21:57that it began
21:57to develop
21:58its own portable
21:59version of the weapon.
22:01These were invaluable
22:02against the Japanese
22:03pillboxes
22:04during the bloody
22:04Battle of Tarawa
22:05in November 1943.
22:14Of the Japanese
22:16garrison of 5,000
22:17only 17 survived.
22:19A thousand US soldiers
22:21were killed
22:21and twice as many wounded.
22:27The battle taught
22:28the US a vital lesson.
22:30Mechanized flamethrowers
22:32were crucial.
22:33By June 1944
22:34the first of these
22:36were unleashed
22:36during the invasion
22:37of the Marianas.
22:39Gruesome images
22:40of dead Japanese soldiers
22:41in well-defended pillboxes
22:43proved the mechanized
22:45flamethrowers' effectiveness.
22:48Now,
22:49as the battle rages
22:50on Iwo Jima
22:51both the portable
22:52and mechanized flamethrowers
22:54are essential.
22:55The 21st of February
23:01US aircraft and ships
23:02bombard the Japanese
23:03positions on
23:04Mount Suribachi
23:05as the Marines'
23:06assault on the mountain
23:07continues.
23:09Some American regiments
23:10have now suffered
23:11over 50% casualties.
23:13The Japanese
23:13have turned the interior
23:15of Mount Suribachi
23:16into a seven-story fortress.
23:20Refueling
23:20and rearming problems
23:22detain the tanks
23:23the Marines
23:23are counting on
23:24for back-up.
23:25As they scale
23:26the mountain
23:26the unprotected men
23:27face certain slaughter
23:29and are gunned down
23:30by the invisible
23:31Japanese defenders.
23:33Japanese aircraft
23:35mount a kamikaze attack
23:36on the naval support.
23:41The escort carrier
23:42Bismarck C
23:43is sunk
23:44while the fleet carrier
23:45Saratoga
23:46is damaged.
23:52Despite the setback
23:54Mount Suribachi
23:55is within grasp
23:56by day's end
23:57due largely
23:58to the heroism
23:59of US Marines
24:00many of whom
24:01now lie dead.
24:03I'd like to remember
24:04the casualties
24:05the 17, 18 year olds
24:07that almost 6,000 of them
24:09that made the supreme sacrifice
24:11that's the ones
24:12that really
24:13are dear to my heart.
24:16That's the ones.
24:17The fact that we took
24:19so many casualties
24:20was very depressing
24:23but
24:25if people could have seen
24:28the havoc
24:30that was being rained
24:31on that island
24:32it was unbelievable.
24:37The death and destruction
24:39of human beings
24:40it's hard to explain.
24:44The reason
24:46the reason
24:49I can't remember
24:50a lot of it
24:50is
24:51I think
24:52because
24:53I don't want to.
24:55The remaining Japanese
24:56are denied permission
24:57to mount
24:58a final banzai
24:59a charge
25:00in which troops
25:01attack
25:01en masse
25:02without concern
25:03for casualties.
25:04That's why
25:05it's so important
25:05by the time
25:06of Iwo Jima
25:06that General
25:07Kurabayashi
25:07says
25:08banzai attacks
25:09no they're not good
25:09we just waste lives
25:12we make it easier
25:13for the enemy to win
25:14we should dig in
25:16and we should fight
25:16a smarter battle.
25:18Some of the American
25:19attacks result
25:20in hand-to-hand combat.
25:22The Japanese
25:23believed
25:24that the noblest
25:25form of warfare
25:26was getting close
25:27with a bladed weapon
25:28the samurai sword
25:29or the bayonet
25:30and so
25:32even though
25:32the Japanese
25:33had great defensive
25:34tactics
25:36once they were
25:38in close contact
25:39with the enemy
25:40they would get impatient
25:41and they would want
25:42to try and finish
25:43the enemy
25:44and they would try
25:45to overwhelm them.
25:47At night
25:47you had them
25:48come out of their holes
25:50and try and
25:51infiltrate the lines
25:53and
25:55sometimes
25:56they got pretty close
25:57and there was a lot
25:59of hand-to-hand
26:00fighting.
26:01I think that probably
26:02was the most chilling
26:03aspect of Iwo Jima
26:06for me
26:07because
26:07it was human beings
26:10against human beings
26:11then
26:11it wasn't artillery
26:12against artillery.
26:13The 22nd of February.
26:16The next day
26:17the Marines
26:17have Mount Suribachi
26:18isolated
26:19but their morale
26:20is low.
26:21Japanese resistance
26:22remains suicidal.
26:24Some even attack
26:25with samurai swords.
26:27US commanding officers
26:28decide that
26:29Suribachi
26:30must now be taken
26:31to raise the spirits
26:32of their battle-fatigued
26:33soldiers.
26:34The 23rd of February
26:37day 5
26:38of the assault.
26:39At 0800
26:40a four-man patrol
26:41led by Sergeant
26:42Sherman Watson
26:43reaches the summit
26:44of Mount Suribachi
26:45and reports back
26:47that they have not
26:47seen any Japanese.
26:49So Colonel Chandler Johnson
26:50of the 28th Regiment
26:52decides to seize
26:53the moment.
26:54Well, we reported
26:56to Colonel Chandler
26:57Johnson that morning
26:58around 9 o'clock
27:01our 3rd platoon
27:02and that's when
27:04he handed Shrier
27:05a flag
27:06and he says
27:08if you get to the top
27:09raise it
27:09and
27:10can we come up
27:11to the top
27:12still no resistance
27:13and the first thing
27:16they said
27:17get the flag up
27:17so we tied
27:21the flag
27:21to the pole
27:22two of our guys
27:24found a great big pole
27:24up there
27:25so 20 feet long
27:26and we tied
27:27the flag to that
27:28and took it
27:29to the highest
27:29spot we could
27:30and raised it.
27:31Then things
27:32broke out
27:33down below
27:34the troops
27:34start cheering
27:35the ship's
27:36whistles out
27:36in the ocean
27:37and I tell you
27:38it's kind of
27:38a proud moment
27:39to be standing
27:39on that mountain.
27:41It is a moment
27:42that is captured
27:42on film
27:43by Marine Corps
27:44photographer
27:44Sergeant Lou Lowry.
27:47In addition
27:53to Corporal
27:53Charles Lindbergh
27:55the men
27:55who raised
27:56the flag
27:56are Platoon
27:57Sergeant
27:57Ernest I.
27:58Thomas Jr.
28:00Sergeant
28:00Harry O'Hanson
28:01Private First Class
28:03James R. Mitchells
28:04and Private
28:05Louis Charler.
28:09It's just
28:09a good feeling
28:10to me
28:10I mean
28:11they gave us
28:13a job
28:13we did it
28:14because we never
28:15expected to get up
28:16there Martin
28:16and the corpsman
28:19said
28:20do you want
28:22to see something
28:22that's going
28:23to make you smile
28:24and I said
28:26there's nothing
28:26on this island
28:28that's going
28:28to make me smile
28:29he said
28:29take a look
28:29and I turned around
28:30and the flag was up
28:32but just as the men
28:37celebrate
28:38several Japanese
28:39appear from their tunnels
28:40and for the next
28:41several minutes
28:42make a final
28:43futile attempt
28:44to defend the mountain
28:45during the fighting
28:46Lowry dives
28:47to avoid a grenade
28:48and slides
28:4940 feet
28:50down the steep slope
28:51his camera
28:52is broken
28:53but his film
28:54is safe
28:54and the Japanese
28:55scatter
28:55yet Lowry's image
29:01of the flag raising
29:02is not the iconic
29:03photograph
29:04that will come
29:05to embody
29:05the Pacific War
29:06just a short time
29:09later
29:09a second
29:10larger flag
29:11is raised
29:11the troops
29:12who watched
29:13the first flag raising
29:14are not even aware
29:15that there is a second one
29:16it is this moment
29:24frozen forever
29:25by Associated Press
29:27photographer
29:27Joe Rosenthal
29:28that soon appears
29:29in newspapers
29:30across the world
29:32it would prove
29:33to be one of the
29:34great symbolic moments
29:35of American history
29:36as Joe Rosenthal
29:43later described
29:44he came very close
29:45to missing
29:46the crucial moment
29:47he said
29:48I'm not in your way
29:50am I Joe
29:51and I turned
29:52to say
29:53no Bill
29:55that's fine
29:56hey there it goes
29:58so I shot
30:00the one shot
30:01it's the only one
30:02that I could make
30:03by being polite
30:06to each other
30:06we both damn
30:08near missed
30:08the shot
30:09the men
30:10who raised
30:11the second flag
30:11were Sergeant
30:12Michael Strank
30:13Corporal Harlon Block
30:15Private Franklin
30:16Sousley
30:17Private Rennie Gagnon
30:19Private Ira Hayes
30:21and pharmacist mate
30:22John Bradley
30:23three months later
30:25on May the 11th
30:26the same flag
30:26is raised
30:27in front of the
30:28capital
30:28John Bradley
30:29Rennie Gagnon
30:30and Ira Hayes
30:31were there
30:32Joe Rosenthal's
30:39photograph
30:39became the inspiration
30:40for the Marine Memorial
30:41in Arlington
30:42and for countless
30:44other images
30:45but many days
30:47of ferocious fighting
30:48still lie ahead
30:49of the first group
30:52of flag raisers
30:53Ernest Thomas
30:54Harry Hansen
30:55and Louis Charlo
30:57will die
30:57before fighting
30:58on Iwo Jima ends
30:59of the second group
31:01Michael Strank
31:03Franklin Sousley
31:05Harlon Block
31:07and film cameraman
31:10Bill Gnaust
31:10will not survive
31:12the battle
31:12the taking of
31:13Mount Suribachi
31:14and the planting
31:15of the flag
31:16marks only the end
31:17of the first phase
31:18of the battle
31:18for Iwo Jima
31:19the Japanese
31:21are determined
31:22to teach America
31:22the cost of invading
31:24Japanese soil
31:24when you consider
31:26the number of men
31:27engaged at Iwo Jima
31:28the casualty rate
31:30was horrendous
31:31it's the biggest battle
31:32for the Marine Corps
31:33the US Marine Corps
31:34during World War II
31:35more Marines fight
31:36there than anywhere else
31:37but the American
31:39sacrifices are not in vain
31:40by the end of the week
31:42Iwo Jima's airfields
31:43are in use
31:44by the Americans
31:44the bombing of targets
31:46on the home islands
31:47of Japan
31:47can be intensified
31:491300 miles away
31:56the battle
31:56against the Japanese
31:57for Manila
31:58leaves 100,000
31:59Filipinos dead
32:01the 18th of February
32:06the Philippines
32:07at the beginning
32:08of the week
32:08US troops
32:09in the Philippines
32:10under the command
32:11of General Douglas MacArthur
32:12and Japanese forces
32:14under General Tomoyuki Yamashita
32:16are engaged
32:17in brutal fighting
32:18in the streets of Manila
32:19this
32:22the only major urban battle
32:24fought between the US
32:25and Japanese armies
32:26will climax
32:27in a matter of days
32:28with the attempt
32:29to capture Manila's
32:30great 16th century
32:31wall district
32:32Intramuros
32:33flawed strategies
32:39on both sides
32:41will result
32:41in the destruction
32:42of Manila
32:43the pearl of the Orient
32:44the devastation
32:46is comparable
32:46only to Stalingrad
32:47and Berlin
32:48two weeks after
32:50Pearl Harbor
32:51Japanese forces
32:52had landed
32:52in the Philippines
32:53taking control
32:54of Manila
32:55General Douglas MacArthur
32:57led an unsuccessful defense
32:59from his underground
33:00fortifications
33:01at Corigador
33:02he botched the defense
33:04of the Philippines
33:05he tried to get
33:06his poorly trained
33:07and armed troops
33:08to do much more
33:09than they were capable
33:09of doing
33:10and they suffered greatly
33:11because of it
33:12but because he was
33:13fighting the Japanese
33:14for a prolonged period
33:15that made him a hero
33:17in the eyes
33:18of the American public
33:19when ordered to leave
33:20his command
33:21in March of 1942
33:22he also left
33:24the bulk of his forces
33:25American and Filipino
33:26to be captured
33:27it is then
33:29MacArthur made
33:29his famous pledge
33:30I shall return
33:32toward the very end
33:33when MacArthur
33:35said I shall return
33:36and guerrillas
33:37of the Philippines
33:38rise up in arms
33:39and fight against invader
33:40everybody rose up
33:42I mean it was
33:43just a spontaneous thing
33:44and you never thought
33:45twice of it
33:46when it comes to
33:47Douglas MacArthur
33:47it depends who you talk to
33:49there are some people
33:50who think he was
33:50a military genius
33:51there are others
33:53who feel that
33:54this was a man
33:55with messianic delusions
33:56who surrounded himself
33:57with a staff of sycophants
33:59who fed his
34:00fed his delusions
34:02MacArthur was born
34:04in 1880
34:05into a military family
34:06in Little Rock, Arkansas
34:07his father fought
34:09in the Spanish-American War
34:10in the Philippines
34:11MacArthur was a graduate
34:13of the West Point
34:14Military Academy
34:15he served in the
34:16First World War
34:17and was decorated
34:18for gallantry
34:19on the Western Front
34:19in 1918
34:20at 36
34:23MacArthur became
34:24the youngest
34:24US Army Brigadier General
34:26at 45
34:27the youngest Major General
34:29and at 50
34:30the youngest Army
34:31Chief of Staff
34:32serving for 5 years
34:33beginning in 1930
34:35in 1935
34:36MacArthur was sent
34:38as a military advisor
34:39to what was then
34:40an American supervised
34:41Commonwealth
34:42the Philippines
34:42rather than be ordered
34:44back to America
34:45he retired
34:46staying as a military officer
34:48for the Filipino government
34:49he lived in Manila
34:50where he met his wife
34:52and where his son was born
34:53the city and its people
34:54lived deep
34:55in the heart of MacArthur
34:56General MacArthur
34:58was looked upon
35:01as a god
35:02in the Philippines
35:03they admired him
35:04very very much
35:05because
35:07he
35:07I guess
35:09has the
35:10outward symbol
35:13of America
35:14he was the big man
35:16and he
35:17promised things
35:19that
35:20he had to do
35:22to protect the Philippines
35:23but war
35:24but war was looming
35:25and the US Army
35:26wanted MacArthur back
35:27he was recalled to duty
35:29in 1941
35:30and ultimately appointed
35:32Supreme Commander
35:33of the Southwest Pacific
35:34he used his persona
35:37to represent the United States
35:40he did not say
35:41America will come back
35:42and this and that
35:43he said
35:44I shall return
35:45and that sort of
35:47brought the people
35:48and said
35:48hey this guy means
35:49what he says
35:50in October 1944
35:53MacArthur had made good
35:55on his promise
35:56paving the way
35:57for his return
35:58the US 6th Army
35:59led by General Walter Kruger
36:00made an amphibious assault
36:02on the southern
36:03Philippine island
36:04of Leyte
36:04here MacArthur
36:08proudly waded
36:09to the shore
36:10of his beloved
36:11Philippines
36:11four times
36:12in a huge
36:13media blitz
36:14he believed
36:16that
36:16whatever he was doing
36:18was the most important
36:19thing in the world
36:20at that time
36:20and that he should be
36:21given
36:21maximum resources
36:23in order to conduct
36:25his campaigns
36:26by January 1945
36:28the 6th Army
36:30secures the Lingayan Gulf
36:31on the main
36:32Philippine island
36:33of Lutzon
36:33standing between
36:35MacArthur
36:35and his prize
36:36of Manila
36:37a 150 miles
36:39and Japan's
36:40most feared general
36:41Tomoyuki Yamashita
36:43the Tiger
36:43of Malaya
36:44General Yamashita
36:48ordered his
36:48250,000 troops
36:50not to defend
36:51Manila
36:51he abandoned
36:53the city
36:53and moved north
36:54into the mountains
36:55in preparation
36:56for battle
36:57but as his forces
36:58pull back
36:59Yamashita's order
37:00is flatly disobeyed
37:02by Rear Admiral
37:03Sanji Iwabuchi
37:04he chooses to fight
37:06to the death
37:06and prepares his force
37:08of 17,000 Japanese Marines
37:10by early February
37:12US forces
37:13had reached
37:14the northern outskirts
37:15of Manila
37:16along the way
37:18they liberate
37:19nearly 4,000 prisoners
37:20of war
37:21held at Santo Thomas
37:22University
37:23and more than
37:241,300 prisoners of war
37:26at the old
37:26Bilibid prison
37:27evidence begins to emerge
37:30of the appalling conditions
37:31in which the prisoners
37:32had been held
37:33on the 7th of February
37:37troops of the 37th division
37:39had been ordered
37:40to cross the Pasig River
37:41southeast of the
37:42presidential palace
37:43having secured
37:44their bridgehead
37:45on the southern bank
37:46they begin to fight
37:47street by street
37:48towards the walled city
37:50of Intramuros
37:51by mid-February
37:54the American forces
37:55tighten their hold
37:56on the city
37:57in the face
37:58of a fanatical
37:59Japanese resistance
38:00Iwabuchi
38:01then orders his troops
38:02to begin massacring
38:03all Filipino civilians
38:05left in the city
38:06on the grounds
38:07that they might be guerrillas
38:08they raised and killed
38:10from 100 to 150,000 civilians
38:13who had no idea
38:16that they were going
38:18to be raped
38:18killed and murdered
38:20by the Japanese forces
38:21the killings were
38:23gruesome and systematic
38:25the 19th of February
38:29US forces have
38:30the center of Manila
38:31completely surrounded
38:32and the tempo
38:33of the Japanese
38:34atrocities has increased
38:35the suffering
38:38of the civilians
38:38has also worsened
38:39through a change
38:40in US tactics
38:41although aerial bombing
38:43is forbidden
38:44the Americans
38:45now call in
38:46artillery fire
38:47to help clear obstacles
38:48even a single
38:49sniper
38:50thousands of Filipino
38:52civilians are killed
38:53in the American
38:54bombardments
38:55US troops
38:57continue to inch forward
38:59artillery
39:00systematically pounds
39:01intramuros
39:02rear admiral
39:04Iwabuchi
39:04has again refused
39:06to retreat
39:06the fortress city
39:08has two and a half miles
39:10of 20 foot walls
39:11two thirds of them
39:12are still standing
39:13inside
39:1517,000 Japanese marines
39:17are preparing to fight
39:18to the last man
39:20defending this area
39:27was a Japanese
39:29naval force
39:30which had been converted
39:32into ground combat
39:35soldiers
39:35the admiral
39:37in charge of them
39:39was responsible
39:40for a great many
39:42of the atrocities
39:42that were committed
39:43there were 100,000
39:46Filipinos
39:47taken as hostages
39:48used sometimes
39:50as human shields
39:51or else just plain
39:53murdered
39:54the 23rd of February
39:577.30am
39:59the order is given
40:00fire
40:01for one hour
40:03volley after volley
40:04is launched
40:05from artillery
40:05tanks
40:06tank destroyers
40:07mortars
40:08machine guns
40:09at 8.30am
40:11a round of red smoke
40:13signals
40:14it's time
40:15for the infantry
40:15to go in
40:16troops of the
40:1837th division
40:19rush into
40:19intramuros
40:20from the north
40:21the 129th
40:23infantry regiment
40:24makes an amphibious
40:25crossing of the
40:26Pasig river
40:26it faces light fire
40:28but the troops
40:29are soon ashore
40:30there are few
40:31casualties
40:31the troops
40:33then begin to push
40:34south into the
40:34final Japanese
40:35bastion
40:36meanwhile
40:37the 145th
40:38regiment storms
40:39through breaches
40:40which have been
40:41blown in the
40:41eastern wall
40:42amazingly
40:47neither attack
40:48is met with
40:49any resistance
40:49until the troops
40:50are well into the
40:51city
40:51and working their
40:52way from
40:53building to
40:53building
40:54by sundown
40:55most of
40:56intramuros
40:57is in US
40:58hands
40:58casualties
40:59are incredibly
41:00light
41:00only 5 men
41:02killed
41:02and 62
41:03injured
41:03but once again
41:05the civilians
41:06have suffered
41:06terribly
41:07and in the
41:08basements
41:08the charred
41:09and rotting
41:09bodies of
41:10men
41:10women
41:11and children
41:11are stacked
41:12five deep
41:13three days
41:15later
41:16admiral
41:16Iwabuchi
41:17and his
41:17remaining
41:18officers
41:18commit suicide
41:20on March
41:222nd
41:22MacArthur
41:23will begin
41:24his victory
41:24celebrations
41:25by returning
41:26to
41:26Corregidor
41:26Island
41:27in an
41:28emotional
41:28ceremony
41:29have your
41:31troops
41:31hoist
41:33the colors
41:34to its
41:34peak
41:34and let
41:36no enemy
41:37ever
41:38haul them
41:39down
41:39the US
41:42flag was
41:43raised on the
41:44flagpole
41:44from which it
41:45had been lowered
41:46in surrender
41:47almost exactly
41:48three years
41:49earlier
41:51in the weeks
41:51to come
41:52the brutal
41:52month-long
41:53battle for
41:54Manila
41:54will reduce
41:55the pearl
41:55of the
41:55orient
41:56to smoldering
41:57embers
41:57MacArthur
41:59would declare
41:59the island
42:00secure
42:00in June
42:01but sporadic
42:02fighting
42:02continues
42:03for six
42:03months
42:04in the end
42:06the battle
42:06claimed the
42:07lives of
42:071,010
42:08US servicemen
42:10over 16,000
42:11Japanese
42:12and more
42:13than 100,000
42:14civilians
42:15General
42:17Yamashita
42:18holed up
42:18in his
42:18mountain
42:19retreat
42:19will be
42:20tried for
42:20war crimes
42:21by a
42:21military
42:22commission
42:22one year
42:23to the
42:24day that
42:24Intramuros
42:24was stormed
42:25the Tiger
42:26of Malaya
42:27would be
42:27hanged
42:28for the
42:28atrocities
42:29at Manila
42:29next
42:31on the
42:32last days
42:33of World
42:33War II
42:34the Allies
42:35close in
42:36on the
42:36battered
42:36remains
42:37of the
42:37Third Reich
42:38the Red
42:39Army
42:39exacts
42:40brutal
42:40revenge
42:41on German
42:41villages
42:42as they
42:42advance
42:43into East
42:43Prussia
42:44in the
42:45Far East
42:46the Allies
42:46attack
42:47in Burma
42:47and the
42:48Philippines
42:48as the
42:49Japanese
42:49torture
42:50of
42:50thousands
42:50of
42:51POWs
42:51is
42:52exposed
42:52in
42:53Borneo
Recommended
41:40
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