Clint.

This is coolbert:

The latest movie directed by Clint Eastwood, "Flags Of Our Fathers" is being greeted with acclaim.

Clint has directed and produced some rather fine movies. I am thinking of "Bird", and "Million Dollar Baby". As a director, Clint demonstrates a lot of skill and talent. Will produce and direct material others will not touch.

"Flags Of Our Fathers" is of course about the Battle of Iwo Jima and the aftermath.

[Clint is reputedly going to make a sequel that is the battle from the perspective of the Japanese!! Outstanding!!]

The entire episode [1945] of Iwo Jima was controversial even before it began.

American military planners, even as high as the military services Chief of Staffs at the time, realized that Iwo Jima was going to be bloody.

Iwo Jima was seen as being potentially a disaster well in advance of the actual invasion. This was due to:

* Lack of concealment. A barren island where the enemy could look down at the attacker and see ALL. Impossible to hide anywhere and not be seen.

* NO room for maneuver. The Marines would have to go straight at the strength of the Japanese defense.

* Defenders [20,000 of them], determined and well commanded that had plenty of time to prepare positions, site weapons, make plans, etc.

The decision was made up to the level of the combined Chief of Staffs to EMPLOY POISON GAS AT IWO JIMA!! AMERICA WAS TO INITIATE THE USE OF POISON GAS IN WORLD WAR TWO!! The American invasion fleet at Iwo had 100 tons of mustard gas aboard. The plan was to bombard the island with mustard gas and asphyxiate the defenders. Final approval of gas usage was left to President Roosevelt. Roosevelt, however, nixed the plan.

"There is considerable evidence that the Joint Chiefs considered the use of poison gas during the Iwo Jima planning phase . . . the Americans had stockpiles of mustard gas shells in the Pacific theater. But President Roosevelt scotched these considerations quickly. America, he declared, would never make first use of poison gas.

[I think the final consensus is that the use of gas at Iwo would NOT HAVE BEEN a decisive factor!! The Marines would still have to storm the island and kill all the defenders!!]

"In any case, the use of poison gas on an area as relatively small as Iwo Jima, whose prevailing winds would quickly dissipate the gas fumes, became moot."

A lot has been written about the heavy [excessive [??]] casualties the Marines suffered at Iwo.

I have seen figures of 5,000, 6,000, and 7,000 Marine dead!! A precise figure is hard to come by??

[such losses make the number killed in Iraq pale in comparison, does it not!! Almost the total Japanese force of 22,000 soldiers were killed. Only a few shell-shocked suvivors being captured!!]

These heavy [excessive [??] losses are historically justified by suggesting that FOUR times as many lives were saved [20,000+ American aircrewmen] than were lost by capturing the island and providing an emergency landing strip for the B-29 bombers conducting the strategic bombing of Japan.

American B-29 bomber aircraft which at the time were carrying out the strategic bombing of the Japanese home islands, DID NOT have a safe haven for landing if they suffered combat damage or mechanical breakdown. Ditching in the water and hoping for rescue was the best that could be hoped for. Rescue that was "iffy" at best.

[parachuting and landing in the ocean would mean almost certain death. That was NOT an alternative!!??]

Capturing Iwo and constructing an airstrip for "in trouble" B-29 bombers was seen as the way to go.

5,000 Marines were sacrificed so that 20,000+ B-29 aircrewmen could live!!

"By war's end, a total of 2,251 B-29s made forced landings on the island. This figure represented 24,761 flight crewmen, many of whom would have perished at sea without the availability of Iwo Jima as a safe haven."

Such was the military calculations.

[I do not think the planners did expect such heavy losses, or the battle to rage as long as it did. The defense was beyond expectations and the Marines had too much to contend with!! Marine tenacity was responsible for eventual American victory!!]

[here is another perhaps unexpected advantage gained by the capture of Iwo]:

"The capture of Iwo Jima served to increase the operating range, payload, and survival rate of the big bombers."

More on all this later.

coolbert.