published on: 21/02/2026
Author:
Bulia
The Aftermath and Legacy of Iwo Jima
In the early morning of February 19th, 1945, the island of Iwo Jima, also known as “Sulfur Island”, became the stage for one of the bloodiest battles fought on the Pacific Theater during World War II. The United States-led Operation Detachment, commanded by General Holland M. Smith against the Japanese Army, was one of the final pushes to force Japan’s surrender. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi knew the battle would be merciless for the Japanese troops, that’s why he ordered his men to fight from deeply-fortified bunkers and tunnels, hidden artillery positions and machine gun nests. What followed was a ferocious five-week long struggle that left both sides significantly impacted, with over 45,000 casualties. Finally, the U.S. declared the island secure on 26th of March, 1945. Although successful, American victory came at a cost for thousands of Marine lives lost. As a result, this forced the U.S. government to reconsider how future assault plans on Japanese territories would be carried out. The battle had a lasting impact on the trajectory of World War II, as it indirectly led to the first ever use of weapons of mass destruction, thus concluding the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
The U.S. troops suffered unprecedented amounts of casualties on Iwo Jima. Nearly 7,000 Marines died over a five-week long engagement, and over 20,000 were wounded, which marks the largest Marine casualties against Japan in the Pacific Theater. The Japanese troops were almost entirely annihilated, with less than a thousand out of 22,000 left that became POWs. The Japanese relentlessly refused to surrender and even had a defensive doctrine of “fighting till the last man”, with infantry units implementing the notorious attack tactic known as Banzai charge. This only contributed to Japanese combat deaths being three times bigger than American. Even after the U.S. declared victory, the Japanese still had holdouts in tunnels and caves and would wage a guerrilla-style resistance lasting all up until 1949, when the last two remaining straggler groups surrendered, four years after the battle ended. The extreme ways in which the Japanese defended their home island served as a harrowing reminder to the U.S. command that it needed to make changes in its assault plans on other Pacific islands and Japan’s mainland to avoid heavy human costs.
The capture of Iwo Jima’s airfields meant the US now possessed a strategically important position from which it could launch air raids on other Japanese islands. The location was intended to provide support for P-51 Mustang fighters, which were supposed to escort heavy bombers. In reality, only a couple of escort missions were carried out from Iwo Jima. The island’s airfields did however serve as emergency landing sites for B-29 bombers, saving the lives of over 2,000 airmen. This enabled the U.S. to carry out long-range air strikes on Japanese airfields in the Mariana region.
Still, Iwo Jima’s greatest strategic influence was in ways the U.S. planned for the assault on Okinawa, in April 1945. When the Marines landed on the island, the memories of Iwo Jima were still freshly engraved in even the most seasoned veterans. Though Okinawa’s size was considerably smaller than that of Iwo Jima, Japanese forces devised the same strategy of deeply-fortified bunkers and quadrupled the size of the troops deployed. The U.S., as a result, enforced heavier preliminary bombardments on the island and improved the coordination of infantry, artillery, and naval gunfire to systematically clear the fortified positions. Assets like flamethrowers and mechanized flame tanks, used in Iwo Jima, demonstrated great tactical value and were implemented again in the Okinawa campaign. As a result, Japan did not manage to turn the battle over in its favor as the majority of troops deployed suffered death or injury. Some estimate the total death toll was between 77,00-100,000 troops. Although the U.S. boosted its troop size to 182,000, it suffered another devastating blow with a third of the troops dead or injured. Seeing that another large-scale campaign on a Japanese island had transpired with huge human costs, Washington debated over the progression of Operation Downfall, which included the invasions on Kyushu and Honshu, both important Japanese military and industrial centers. What Iwo Jima, and consequently Okinawa, proved was that even with tactical and operational adjustments, conquering Japan would require unconventional methods if the U.S. was to prevent heavy losses.
One of the most significant, although indirect, effects Iwo Jima had was on the ultimate Japanese capitulation. Both sides entered the final phase of the Pacific War, and the American leadership, not wanting to repeat the Iwo Jima scenario for the third time, opted out of directly invading mainland Japan. Instead, the decision was made to use never before deployed atomic weapons, subsequently authorized by President Harry S. Truman. On the mornings of August 6th and August 9th, 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leaving a devastating scar on the Japanese population. The bombings, along with the Soviet Union’s declaration of war against Japan, fast-forwarded Japanese formal capitulation on the 2nd of September, 1945, while aboard the USS Missouri, marking the end of World War II - four months after Germany surrendered.
The Iwo Jima battle had a long-lasting influence on American propaganda, media and culture. The iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken by Joe Rosenthal on Mount Suribachi, became a national symbol of American courage and perseverance. The image was used extensively in media in order to boost public support for the war effort. The use of the image in newspapers, on posters, and in films and art was enough to create a narrative around the necessity of U.S. military involvement in the Pacific. The battle bolstered the U.S. Marine Corps status as national heroes, despite enduring heavy losses and feeling uncertain about the war’s progression. It was also a place where Navajo code talkers distinguished themselves in securing communications and coordinating artillery and air strikes under extreme conditions, additionally reinforcing competence of the Marines.
Looking back, the Battle of Iwo Jima was the overture for Japan’s ultimate surrender. It served as a brutal test for Marine Corps capability, technology, and endurance. Its aftermath shaped the further progression of the Pacific War, most clearly with the subsequent invasion of Okinawa. The battle was a grim lesson against a full-scale invasion on the Japanese mainland, and showed how valuable airbases and emergency landing sites would become for future U.S. military campaigns. It had a long-lasting cultural impact in American media and culture, helping the U.S. secure public approval for further war efforts. The ultimate significance of Iwo Jima’s lay not only in its immediate strategic outcomes but also in how it shaped the final months of World War II. Culminating with the atomic bombings and Japan’s capitulation, the Battle of Iwo Jima left in its wake an enduring legacy of courage, perseverance, and strategic importance that would forever be remembered.
For further reading and viewing:
The Untold Story Of Why The Atom Bomb Was Used On Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meeHbHX4dv0
What Happened to the Bodies from Iwo Jima
https://www.grunge.com/1537711/what-happened-bodies-iwo-jima/