The 3rd Marines on
Iwo Jima

“The enemy garrison was determined to make the American victory costly. The Japanese took full advantage of the bristling defenses across the northern quarter of the island… Their exploitation of terrain and high ground is more expert than ever before and they have made intelligent use of the island’s tiny dimensions. They use German tricks of registering their rear artillery upon their own pillboxes to smash our mopping-up parties – the pillboxes, being too thick and too deep to suffer any damage, merely serve as detonators and bouncing boards for shrapnel. These tactics, like those still used by the Nazis in Italy, are designed for defense and are useless for attack.”