On this day in 1945, during the final phases of World War II, U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima wresting control of the strategically important island from the Japanese, who put up fierce resistance in the ensuing battle.
The United States mounted an amphibious invasion of the island of Iwo Jima as part of its Pacific campaign against Japan. A costly victory for the United States, the battle was one of the bloodiest in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps and was cited as proof of the Japanese military’s willingness to fight to the last man.
Iwo Jima is a small island covering an area of about 8 square miles and about 5 miles long. A volcanic island, Iwo Jima is dotted with hundreds of caves and is covered with volcanic sand and ash. At the southwest tip of the island is Mount Suribachi, a largely dormant volcano that provides a sweeping view of most of the island. Two beaches flank the northwest and southeast parts of the western sector. At the time of the U.S. invasion, there were two airfields in the middle of the island, Motoyama 1 and 2. A third airfield to the north was unfinished.
Operation Detachment was one of the deadliest conflicts in U.S. Marine Corps history. The Japanese death toll approached 18,500 soldiers, and some 6,800 U.S. Marines were killed and 19,200 were wounded. Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded at the conclusion of the battle. The fact that Marines were forced to kill the Japanese virtually to the last man is a testament to the iron grip that Japan’s military indoctrination had on its servicemen. Even Kuribayashi refused to surrender in the end, by some accounts preferring to commit seppuku rather than fall into American hands alive. Those few Japanese soldiers who survived were often ostracized at home because of their failure to defend the homeland with their lives.
Stella's Place 
Such a horrible price that was paid, and I fear that not too long from now, it will be an asterisk in history taught in our schools. Regardless of the statue. 😦
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That generation of young men were ordinary very-day citizens yet they had such extraordinary dedication and courage. This entire campaign was a remarkable feat against an army that was relentless but finally, blessedly overcome.
11 Rare Photos from The Battle of Iwo Jima
Friday, Feb 18, 2022
https://www.uso.org/stories/1955-11-rare-photos-from-the-battle-of-iwo-jima
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Wow…reality!! The photographer pretty committed and brave, too.
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Good morning, weather! Yes, indeed, war photographers have performed extraordinarily, too, ever since photography was invented. America has had some great ones: Mathew Brady during our Civil War; George Stevens color-filmed World War 2; Robert Capa, also WW2 + numerous others; and the photographer of the famous flag-raising still photo Stella posted above, Joe Rosenthal.
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Coffee’s up, y’all. Enjoy!
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Good morning, Texan! I’ll bring the donuts….
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Those doughnuts look good. Coffee and a doughnut, what a day!
Thanks Texan, thanks Lucille. And a good morning to you both.
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Good day, Rflection! Mmmm, I’ll try the one next to the pink.
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Chocolate covered for me, please! 🙂
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Mmmm. Thank you, ma’am.
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You’re welcome, kind sir!
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Mornin’ Tex!
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Mornin’, Miss Stella.
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Stellars…Happy Sunday in the North and Baltic Seas….
Alesund, Norway, North Sea…
Copenhagen, Denmark, North Sea…
Binz Beach, Rugen Island, Germany, Baltic Sea…
Coast of Estonia, Baltic Sea…
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Morning Stellers, Starting to fade back a little bit into normal weather. I get the feeling we’ll pay a heavy price in April or May for this heat wave we’ve had. I see Thursday weather listed as 70,
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Good morning, Pa! We’ll be at a high of 42 today with a couple morning hours of rain and snow. I’m chomping at the bit for at least a week of sunshine.
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“Do Your Non-Uniformed Guys Have Any Identifiers” – SHOCKING Capitol Police Video Uncovered from Jan 6 Shows Undercover and Armed DOJ Onsite – IT WAS A SETUP
February 18, 2023 9:00 pm by Joe Hoft
Videos released hours ago on Twitter show multiple examples of undercover federal agents at the Capitol on Jan 6.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/do-your-non-uniformed-guys-have-any-identifiers-shocking-capitol-police-video-uncovered-from-jan-6-shows-undercover-and-armed-doj-onsite-it-was-a-setup/
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Joe Hoft: “What a horrible day in American history.”
Second comment: “Unfortunately, they have our number.
We really do believe in our system of government and in the rule of law. We always try to do the right thing.
They have no such constraints.
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My oldest brother joined the Navy in March of 1945, dropping out of high school mid-senior year to do so, along with all the other boys in his class, except one. They were all intending to “fight the war”–my brother ended up being a combat photographer in the Korean War and eventually finished out a 28 year career with the rank of Commander.
Lucille, love the colorful photo from Copenhagen. I am 100%, all grandparents emigrating from Denmark in the late 1800s.
I always marvel at such scenes (including Venice, of course) and wonder how all of the underground engineering was developed, those things essential to “keeping the feet of the buildings dry” when they seem to be standing in the water. I suppose simply skills and knowledge gathered over centuries for seaside nations?
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…of course…the war “got over” the summer after they all joined…
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…and, of course, I’m 100% Danish…not just 100%!! Funny. I need to slow down–I do enjoy the editing option now available on CTH!
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Morning Sharon ~
Used to have breakfast at a Danish restaurant in Solvang (Calif) and enjoyed their egg-medisterpolse-aebleskiver [served with raspberry preserves] breakfast! Yummmmm!!!
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Yes. My mother and her 11 sisters were most excellent with the aebleskiver and all the other things. During the 28 years we had in SoCal, we loved going to Solvang on a weekend. What beautiful country all around there.
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Good day, Sharon! God bless the memory of your dear brother.
My Mom’s brother was a USN NCO in WW2. His first ship assignment was in 1942 when he was 25. However, it wasn’t on a battleship but instead on the yacht Cecil B. DeMille donated to the war effort for California coast guarding! Later he was at some of the worst battles in the Pacific and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Until I looked up that Copenhagen photo I didn’t know the city was built on two islands–Zealand and Amager.
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My maternal (Danish) grandfather was born on the little island of Bornholm–so “away” from Denmark proper, it could be part of Sweden, it seems. I enjoy, very much, running around the world on Google Earth, and have sometimes driven through the little streets of Bornholm, wondering which places my grandfather might have seen.
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Recently I took a Google trip in Tuscany, Italy. Just chose a city, got in the Google map photography truck and started driving out of the city into the countryside on whatever little lane or street appealed. I must have spent two hours (I won’t say “wasted”) and it was so much fun even if it was a tad nutty.
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I don’t think that’s nutty at all. It’s even better than the old National Geographics.
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Well, this provides some insight!!!!!
“The Fed, like Mary Poppins, ‘never explains anything”’– or, if it does, it’s always open to interpretation. As former chair Alan Greenspan once remarked: ‘If I seem unduly clear to you, you must have misunderstood what I said.’ ”
from:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2023-02-17/americas-credit-card-just-got-declined
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What a disappointment was Greenspan! A former understudy of Ayn Rand, he practiced all the opposite ideology while in office.
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Our Favorite Sunday Columnist has some thoughts on the headwinds facing Shifty Schiff in his run-up to becoming the next Senator from the Golden State. Some of his issues may not be able to be explained away…..like being a(n) M-A-N.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/02/eating_their_own_in_the_golden_state.html
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Happy Birthday, Homer!
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While the Epoch Times is occasionally known to hyperbole from time-to-time, this story has seemed to gather traction, and not just from this publication. Letting the WHO dictate vaccine and lockdown policies, is a bridge too far, IMO. This article explains the “legal” justification and contortions that Brandon and company are using to try and pull it off. This might be the tipping point. Here’s the most concerning sentence in the entire article, I believe……
FTA – “They want to see a centralized, vaccine-and-medication-based response, and a very restrictive response in terms of controlling populations,”
https://www.theepochtimes.com/biden-admin-negotiates-deal-to-give-who-authority-over-us-pandemic-policies_5066631.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport
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Texas: Muslima who stabbed man in revenge for killing of Soleimani is on house arrest, but left to make music videos
February 18, 2023 5:00 PM By ROBERT SPENCER
Police in Texas “said they were never made aware” that she was supposed to be under house arrest, “as she has left home to make music and videos.”
Was this simple negligence, or fear of appearing “Islamophobic,” or something else altogether?
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/02/texas-muslima-who-stabbed-man-in-revenge-for-killing-of-soleimani-is-on-house-arrest-but-left-to-make-music-videos
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[sigh!]
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Well, the way things seem to be now…………I have to go with “something else altogether.”
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Afternoon All. My family is all sick with a really bad cold. My DIL sent me a message on the computer, but I didn’t see it until I got back home. I got up late this morning and didn’t even have time to turn on the computer. It was snowing lightly here, but the closer we got to the church the harder it was coming down. By the time we left after church, there was about 3″ or 4″ on the ground. There is just a smattering back here at the apartment. Last time I checked the weather report, we are supposed to get more snow this week. It seems weird since it is 38* outside. Like “they” say, “It is winter.”
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Stella, I love the photo of the crocuses. We usually saw the first of them at the end of March or into April into our bare, prairie pasture sod. And that is exactly what they would look like under a late snow event–tough, tough little plants.
I have a few of them planted here and there in my yard here now, and they are always the first to come up after the primroses, which are blooming now. I am seeing the beginnings of the gray crocus foliage in a couple of areas. Sweet memories and brave little flowers.
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I love the picture too! Brave little flowers – a good way to describe them.
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