Iwo Jima Research Paper

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Pages: 1

Iwo Jima is a small pacific island that is 5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, with an area of about 800 square miles. Iwo Jima lies 760 miles south of south-southeast Tokyo, in the Bonin chain of islands. Although Iwo Jima was a very small island, it was very important tactically. On the island there were two airfields, which under Japanese control could be used to send planes out to attack American bombers. When the airfields were under American control they could be used for the emergency landing of damaged planes, or for the takeoff of American fighter planes because they needed a shorter runway. Iwo Jima was barren, very hilly, and rocky, meaning that it meant very little in the beginning years of the war to the Americans. The island was