The Battle of Iwo Jima In the early morning of February 19, 1945, United States Marines assigned to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions led the initial assault on the controlled island of Iwo Jima by the Japanese, with the aim of capturing and protecting the island. This was the beginning of one of the fiercest and bloodiest wars; and, most crucially, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. After the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the casualties and losses were astonishing. 6,821 US Marines along with 18,844 members of the Imperial Japanese Army had paid the ultimate sacrifice. A decisive US victory on the island of Iwo Jima later played a critical role in the overall defeat of the Japanese Empire and its military (Morison, 1945). On 9 July 1944, the 2nd Marine Division, 4th Marine Division, and 27th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Holland Smith, defeated the Imperial Japanese Army's 43rd Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Yoshitsugu Saito, capturing Saipan ( Moore, 2002), a 44.55-square-mile island located in the Northern Mariana Islands, approximately 1,465 miles south of Tokyo, Japan. The capture of Saipan was strategically important to the United States and Allied forces, as it was logistically relevant, due to its location from Tokyo. “It was the decisive battle of the Pacific Offensive [...] that opened the way to the home islands of the Japanese (Nalty, Shaw and Turnbladh, 1966).” In November 1944, US B29 bombers had begun bombing operations over the Japanese capital, Tokyo, from airfields located on the US-controlled island of Saipan. After the fall of Saipan, the Imperial Japanese Army and naval forces were deployed on the island of Iwo Jima. ; a very small island, about… half of the paper… these intelligence failures, greater emphasis is now placed on creating intelligence products used on the battlefield. All possible enemy actions are now lumped together in an attempt to produce a very accurate analytical product. February 19, 1945 marked the beginning of one of the most ferocious and bloody periods; and, most crucially, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. A total of 6,821 US Marines had lost their lives, along with 19,217 wounded over the five-week span of the battle for Iwo Jima. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoner. "Iwo Jima was the only U.S. Marine Corps battle in which total American casualties (killed and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese, although Japanese combat deaths were three times those of the Americans throughout the battle (O 'Brien, 1987).”