Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima” is a Japanese-American war film based on the American invasion and subsequent Japanese defence on the island of Iwo Jima. The protagonists of the movie are General Tadamichi Kuribayashi played by Ken Watanabe, and the fictional character Saigo, played by Kazunari Ninomiya. The movie shows the Japanese perspective of the defence on the island of Iwo Jima, to prevent the Americans from achieving a launching point for an invasion of mainland Japan. It follows Kuribayashi struggle to command his troops and defend the island. Meanwhile, it follows Saigo’s struggle to survive the ensuing onslaught to return home to his wife and child. “Letters from Iwo Jima” is considered a historically accurate representation of the conflict in Iwo Jima. However, it misrepresents some facts that could affect our understanding on The Battle of Iwo Jima. Firstly, one aspect of The Battle of Iwo Jima that the film accurately depicted was Kuribayashi’s strategy. The Japanese defence of Jima would have been defence-in-depth, a military tactic that included …show more content…
For example, the protagonist Saigo was a fictional character only portrayed in the movie. The character of Saigo could lead the viewer to believe that he was a real person. Furthermore, the movie showed Kuribayashi during a banquet where he said, “the United States is the last country in the world Japan should fight." In reality, the quote is taken from a letter that he had written to his wife (Chen par. 1). Lastly, in the movie, the death of Kuribayashi is depicted with an iconic suicide by a gunshot to the head. In reality, he had been reportedly committed ritual suicide, but it cannot be confirmed as no body had been found (Chen par. 6). “Letters from Iwo Jima” inaccurately depicted the death of Kuribayashi and included fictional aspects not recorded in
In the year 1979, Chicago Tribune writer Mary Elson surprised Jack Bradley at work. He gave her a ten-minute interview. He was talking about how he regrets that there was a flag attached to the pipe he put in the ground. She completely misunderstood what he was talking about, but James Bradley believed it captures the plainness of the moment of the flag raising in contrast to the public's grand perception of it.
Flags of Our Fathers, a book written by James Bradley, is the story capturing the lives of the six men who raised the flag on the island of Iwo Jima as they fought before, during, and after World War II. One of these men was James Bradley’s own father. James found old boxes full of articles and imagery taken from the war. Through these documents, he then discovers that his father was one of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima and goes on a search to find out as much as he possibly can about the other five flag raisers. All in all, the six young men included were John Bradley, Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and Mike Strank.
December 7, 1941 is considered one of the most impactful days in United States’ history: the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Despite their size, Japan left an incredible amount of damage with their 5 submarines and 408 planes. President Roosevelt had been avoiding scuffling with Japan since their pact with Germany and Italy; war with Germany was sure to erupt soon enough. However, soon after the ambuscade, the United States’ declared war on Japan and launched their involvement in World War II. Japan’s leaders recognized the risks of invading one of America’s naval bases; yet they persisted.
Many people do not know the importance of the Navajo Indian tribe’s code in World War 2. People don’t understand many things about what made the Navajo people so special and impactful. Not only do people not know what makes this Navajo code so important, they don’t even know who they are, or how the very famous Navajo Indian code was devised. The Navajo code talkers were Native Americans part of the Navajo Indian tribe during World War 2.
Japanese planes and submarines managed a surprise attack on the U.S at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Attacked on December 7, 1941, the United States previously deciding to stay out of World War II, now declare war on Japan. Trouble started boiling between the two countries after World War I. In the aftermath of the previous war, the U.S. proposed an establishment of the League of Nations, a way for countries to work out their problems directly without declaring war. A League of Nations was created, and numerous nations joined, among those was Japan however, the United Stated did not join.
He says, “When the small swatch of color fluttered, Iwo Jima was transformed, for a few moments, into Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Infantrymen cheered, whistled, and waved their helmets. Ships offshore opened up their deep, honking whistles. ”(205). The way the author described this jubilant occasion sets the tone for the scene.
After the bombing, the United State troops approached the island. At their first sight, the troops thought that they had wiped out all of the Japanese troops. This is because the Japanese had dug a tremendous amount of underground tunnels and hideouts (Chen). This is why the United States had a very limited amount of success with the bombing. The Japanese Imperial Navy was instructed to stay in their positions until all of the beaches around Iwo Jima were full.
Why We Fight directed by Frank Capra, was one of the well-known films during the war and was watched by many. “Overall, however, the Why We Fight films reflected the strategic priorities of the U.S. government and focused primarily on the struggle in the West.” (Dower 17). Not only were the Americans creating such racist films and other propaganda, but the Japanese were employing the same tactics. By reading the title of Chapter 3, “War Hates and War Crimes,” the reader can conclude
Also depleting air strength meant the remaining warplanes had to be hoarded to defend Japanese Home Islands. With no available means to defend Iwo Jima, Japan decided to rely on the established defensive equipment in the area and check U.S. by delaying tactics to gain time for defense of the mainland. Japanese Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned the task of defending Iwo Jima. Knowing he couldn’t win the battle, he aimed at inflicting heavy casualties on American forces to force them to reconsider invasion of Mainland Japan. His strategy was radically different from Japan’s usual strategy of beach defense to face the landings directly.
“From December of 1941 to the spring of 1942, Japanese forces advanced virtually unimpeded throughout the Pacific and southeastern Asia while handing the Allies a string of humiliating defeats, first at Pearl Harbor, then at Guam, Wake Island, Singapore, and in the Philippines. By the spring of 1942, the outcome of the war was very much in doubt as Americans began to think that the Japanese military was invincible. "The Pacific situation is now very grave," cabled President Roosevelt to Winston Churchill in March of 1942, after the Japanese conquest of Java.”
Walker does not just take the reader on a tour of the decision-making process of President Truman and shows what made him to order the use of Atomic bombs on Japan, but he also provide an exploration of the historical situation that prompted the decision. He also examines the viewpoint of the Japanese, not only regarding the impact of the bombings on their ultimate decision to surrender, but also how their Allies called for an unconditional surrender. This call could possibly have led to the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, being tried on counts of war crimes, which may have possibly made the Japanese to be reluctant on surrendering even in light of a crushing defeat (Huczko). Samuel Walker also provides useful insights into contribution made by the decision to use Atomic weapons on Japanese decision to surrender.
This letter was another one of the corresponding messages between Miss Breed and Louise Ogawa dating back to September 27, 1942 and sent from the Santa Anita Interment Camp, a racetrack center turned Japanese relocation site during World War II (“700 S.F. Japanese Assemble”). The letter was written by Lousie Ogawa with a personal touch, a letter seemingly written by a friend for another. The purpose of her letter was to thank Miss. Breed for her interest in her life within the internment camp and from there Ogawa moves on to answering questions that were previously addressed to her in a past letter. Such as the materials provided to them within the camp, what she misses about her previous life, and her sources of entertainment within the camp.
Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort and the U.S.’s overall superior strategies of Nimitz and Fletcher was the true reason for why the U.S.’s seemingly impossible victory became possible. The two key themes that I will focus analysis on is the failures in the Japanese strategic planning and execution at Midway and U.S. determination and resilience to keep pushing on even after things, especially with USS carriers leading up to and during the actual war was falling apart. Symonds begins to argue his case by dissecting Japan’s plans for conquest and domination in the Pacific. He starts with looking at the Japanese failure by several of their military philosophies.
“Mary Tsukamoto once said ‘I knew it would leave a scar that would stay with me forever. At that moment my precious freedom was taken from me’” (Martin 54). The Betrayal. The attack on Pearl Harbor.
One of the most iconic photographs of history, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” was taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This photograph is set in the backdrop of World War II: the deadliest military conflict in history. The United States of America declared war on Japan after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Part of the United States’ plan to defeat Japan in the Pacific was a strategy known as leapfrogging, or island hopping, where heavily fortified Japanese positions were bypassed in order to concentrate on more important islands. Iwo Jima was one of the islands targeted.