U.S. Army Air Force VII Fighter Command P-51s operating bomber escort missions from Iwo Jima, in World War II. Aerial views of Iwo Jima and airfield. A military cemetery. Several dump trucks working on ground improvements. View of Army camp. Long line of parked P-51s. Three officers looking at chart depicting B-29 mission paths from Marianas Islands to Japan and back. P-51 starting engines. Name on one aircraft is 'The Deacon'. Aircraft pulls out of parking area, second one follows. Formation of B-29s, including some from Saipan-based 73rd Bomb Wing, 499th Bomb Group (Tail Code "V"). Views of interior of a B-29 with crew members at their duty stations. P-51 fighter escorts join up with the bombers. View of escorting fighters from inside B-29 looking through gunners bubble. Formation begins to encounter Japanese Flak. P-51s peel off and are seen maneuvering near the B-29s. Views of gunner rotating turret on a bomber.
United States Marine Corps at their base, prepare for raid on Japanese island of Iwo Jima, in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Large groups of Marines near the Amphibious Landing Vehicles on the beach. A SBD A-24 flies over them. Marines open their bags and inflate their rubber life belts. Marines aboard transport ship going for the raid on Iwo Jima. Marines sit on the deck and clean their guns and other weapons aboard
The Iwo Jima flag 7th War Loan drive in Washington DC during World War II. The 7th War Loan drive is underway. Famed Iwo Jima flag raising survivors and heroes, Rene Gagnon, John Bradley, and Ira Hayes stand together outside the U.S. Capitol. Guards stand at attention. Gagnon, Bradley and Hayes raise a flag of the Unites States above the U.S. Capitol to kick off the load drive. The military personnel salute the flag. The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., speaks telling American people of the urgency of buying war bonds.
United States invasion of Iwo Jima, Japan during World War II. A swimmer in water. An LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) underway at sea. An LCVP picks up a swimmer and he comes aboard. A man aboard a LCVP looks through binoculars. Small crafts in operation off the shore. Ships in the background. Iwo Jima beachhead as small crafts operate off the shore.
Invasion of Iwo Jima, Japan by United States during World War II. LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) loaded with Marines of the 5th Marine Division underway towards the beach of Iwo Jima, Japan. A Marine reads out from a list. Marines in a LCM as they head for the beach.
U.S. Navy attack transport USS Cecil (APA-96) underway in the Pacific Ocean towards Iwo Jima, Japan during World War II. Communication wire on reel being lowered over the side of the U.S. Navy attack transport USS Cecil. The coast of Iwo Jima partially covered by smoke screen. The USS Cecil underway amidst the smoke screen.