Iwo Jima is declared secured
Cushman's Pocket, where the 1st and 3d Battalions, 9th Marines, had made contact on 11 March, was eliminated on 16 March, ending organised resistance in the 3d Division zone. At 18:00 the island was declared secured, 26 days after the landing, though about 500 Japanese remained in the gorge at Kitano Point. An official flag-raising on 14 March had marked the proclamation of a U.S. Navy military government in the Volcano Islands, and on 20 March the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment arrived for garrison duty. The declaration shifted responsibility, and…
Continue in Iwo Jima →