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Iwo Jima Fun Fact

Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:23 am
Posted by RickAstley
Reno, Nevada
Member since May 2011
2128 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:23 am
Yamakage Kufuku and Matsudo Linsoki, two Imperial Japanese Navy machine gunners, surrendered on Iwo Jima three years after the end of WWII on January 6, 1949. They were in good condition at the time of surrender. They managed to steal food and other supplies from the U.S. personnel stationed on the island during the nights to help sustain during their extended hold out.

The actual battle of Iwo Jima was fought from February 19th - March 26th, 1945.
Posted by UptownJoeBrown
Baton Rouge
Member since Jul 2024
6516 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:27 am to
Fun?
This post was edited on 11/23/25 at 8:29 am
Posted by LemmyLives
Texas
Member since Mar 2019
13014 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:30 am to
If you get the chance to visit, when they tell you not to touch anything shiny in the black sand, it's for a reason.
Posted by FAP SAM
Member since Sep 2014
3229 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:34 am to
quote:

surrendered on Iwo Jima three years after the end of WWII on January 6, 1949



-Hiro Onoda
Posted by HoustonGumbeauxGuy
Member since Jul 2011
32609 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 8:59 am to
The iconic Iwo Jima Flag-Raising statue in Washington, D.C. …officially the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial…. is replica based on the original sculpture created by artist Felix de Weldon shortly after World War II.

De Weldon began working on the piece in 1945, meticulously shaping the figures in plaster, but the full original model had no permanent home for many years.

It sat stored in sections in his garage and studio while he worked to secure funding and a suitable site for a national memorial. When the official memorial in Washington was finally commissioned and completed in 1954, the massive bronze version was cast from that same original model.

The original full-size plaster sculpture was later acquired by the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas (which is a private college preparatory school for boys) where it now stands as an important and historically significant predecessor to the D.C. monument.
This post was edited on 11/23/25 at 9:03 am
Posted by rintintin
Life is Life
Member since Nov 2008
16953 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:01 am to
Is he the dude who didn't surrender until like 2002?
Posted by Wraytex
San Antonio - Gonzales
Member since Jun 2020
3430 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:02 am to
Posted by sledgehammer
SWLA
Member since Oct 2020
6671 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:05 am to
I imagine finding and stealing fresh water on these islands was a chore for the Japanese. I know Peleliu offered no fresh water sources yet 34 soldiers survived in caves until they surrendered in April of 1947
Posted by FAP SAM
Member since Sep 2014
3229 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:12 am to
Some time in the 70s I believe
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
94655 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:15 am to
March 10, 1974

But only after they found his former commanding officer to come to the Philippines and order him to.

This was the ceremony held the next day where Onoda formally surrendered to Marcos.

Posted by UptownJoeBrown
Baton Rouge
Member since Jul 2024
6516 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:25 am to
Hilarious episode.
Posted by Boss13
Mobile
Member since Oct 2016
1814 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:35 am to
quote:

If you get the chance to visit, when they tell you not to touch anything shiny in the black sand, it's for a reason


Would you be considered a casualty of WW2 if you were killed by a burried land mine on Iwo Jima?
Posted by ClientNumber9
Member since Feb 2009
9919 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:35 am to
Here's another Iwo Jima fun fact:

The 5 week battle resulted in 48,000 casualties over the island's 8 total square miles. That's 6,000 casualties per square mile. That's a literal carpet of bodies across the surface of the island.
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
135259 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:52 am to
quote:

Iwo Jima

quote:

Fun Fact


Stick to your gameboy
Posted by UptownJoeBrown
Baton Rouge
Member since Jul 2024
6516 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 9:52 am to
quote:

literal carpet of bodies across the surface of the island.


Not literally but it’s a lot.
Posted by real turf fan
East Tennessee
Member since Dec 2016
11073 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 10:09 am to
quote:

Iwo Jima Fun Fact


Four words seldom, if ever, seen together before this.
Posted by RickAstley
Reno, Nevada
Member since May 2011
2128 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 10:12 am to
I just finished reading Flags of Our Fathers that dives into the history of the flag raising and the individuals that participated. Some other interesting facts:

- It wasn't the first U.S. flag raising that happened on Suribachi. This was to avoid the first one being claimed by Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.

- One of the 6 flag raisers was not publicly identified until January 1947. One of the three surviving flag raisers, Ira Hayes, was told to keep quiet about Harlon Block's identification when he spoke up about him not being included as one of the six flag raisers on the 7th bond tour.

- The flag raising occurred very early in the battle of Iwo Jima. It happened on February 23rd and the battle went until March 26th.
Posted by weagle1999
Member since May 2025
1610 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 10:14 am to
A Confederate flag was also raised on Okinawa:



quote:

Five days ago I posted an article citing Eugene Sledge’s With the Old Breed that stated the first American flag to fly over the conquered Japanese fortress at Shuri Castle during the World War II battle of Okinawa was the Confederate battle flag. Sledge, who was present, wrote:

Earlier in the morning [of May 29, 1945] . . . Marines had attacked eastward into the rains of Shuri Castle and had raised the Confederate flag. When we learned that the flag of the Confederacy had been hoisted over the very heart and soul of Japanese resistance, all of us Southerners cheered loudly. The Yankees among us grumbled


Betcha didn’t know that.

This post was edited on 11/23/25 at 10:21 am
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
78788 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 10:16 am to
The iconic photo was a re-enactment of the actual, original event.
Posted by LemmyLives
Texas
Member since Mar 2019
13014 posts
Posted on 11/23/25 at 10:20 am to
quote:

Would you be considered a casualty of WW2 if you were killed by a burried land mine on Iwo Jima?

I missed an opportunity to find out (most of the ux appeared to be mortar rounds and the like)
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