In 1945 February 19, there was a battle between the US and Japan. The battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. Iwo Jima was a Pacific island, two miles wide by four miles long (8 sm). Iwo Jima which means Sulfur island, was important an an air base. It was a base from the Mariana island to Japanese. Because the distance between mainland Japan and U.S bases in the Mariana Islands, the U.S felt that the capture of Iwo Jima would provide and emergency landing strips for damaged B-29s returning from bombing runs. Approximately 70,000 U.S Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. The landings of Marines began the morning