World Battlefronts: BATTLE OF THE PACIFIC: I Am Going to Die Here

Radio Tokyo last week described the defender of Iwo Jima, Lieut. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, as a commander whose "partly protruding belly is packed full of strong fighting spirit." It quoted him: "This island is the front line that defends our mainland, and I am going to die here."

If the General was still around on D-plus-twelve, he must have seen something to pack his belly with anguish: a huge cloud of yellow dust rising over Motoyama Airfield No. 1. The dust was lifted by big U.S. transport planes landing from Saipan. The Americans were putting to use what they had...

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