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Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima cover

Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima

Chapter 17: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
By Joseph H. Alexander
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About This Book

A focused operational history recounts the Marine Corps campaign to seize a small volcanic island defended by a determined garrison. Combining day-by-day narrative with analyses of terrain, fortifications, command decisions, tactics, and logistics, it traces initial assault preparations, amphibious landings, fierce close combat and counterattacks, and the grinding struggle to secure key airfields. The account emphasizes how rugged, fortified terrain and attrition shaped outcomes, documents casualties and soldier experiences, and situates the fighting within its strategic purpose of supporting long-range air operations.

[Sidebar (page 50):]

Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

Twenty-seven men received the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity during the battle of Iwo Jima: 22 Marines, four Navy corpsmen, and one Navy landing craft commander. Exactly half of the awards issued to Marines and corpsmen of the V Amphibious Corps were posthumous. Within a larger institutional context, Iwo Jima represented more than one-fourth of the 80 Medals of Honor awarded Marines during the Second World War. This was Iwo Jima’s Roll of Honor:

  • Cpl Charles J. Berry, 1/26, 3 March 1945A
  • PFC William R. Caddy, 3/26, 3 MarchA
  • LtCol Justice M. Chambers, 3/25, 19–22 February
  • Sgt Darrell S. Cole, 1/23, 19 FebruaryA
  • Capt Robert Dunlap, 1/26, 20–21 February
  • Sgt Ross F. Gray, 1/25, 21 February
  • Sgt William G. Harrell, 1/28, 3 March
  • Lt Rufus G. Herring, USNR, LCI 449, 17 February
  • PFC Douglas T. Jacobson, 3/23, 26 February
  • PltSgt Joseph J. Julian, 1/27, 9 MarchA
  • PFC James D. LaBelle, 1/27, 8 MarchA
  • 2dLt John H. Leims, 1/9, 7 March
  • PFC Jacklyn H. Lucas, 1/26, 20 February
  • 1stLt Jack Lummus, 2/27, 8 MarchA
  • Capt Joseph J. McCarthy, 2/24, 21 February
  • 1stLt Harry L. Martin, 5th Pioneer Battalion, 26 MarchA
  • Pvt George Phillips, 2/28, 14 MarchA
  • PhM 1/c Francis J. Pierce, USN, 2/24, 15–16 March
  • PFC Donald J. Ruhl, 2/28, 19–21 FebruaryA
  • Pvt Franklin E. Sigler, 2/26, 14 March
  • Cpl Tony Stein, 1/28, 19 FebruaryA
  • PhM 2/c George Wahlen, USN, 2/26, 3 March
  • GySgt William G. Walsh, 3/27, 27 FebruaryA
  • Pvt Wilson D. Watson, 2/9, 26–27 February
  • Cpl Hershel W. Williams, 1/21, 23 February
  • PhM 3/c Jack Williams, USN, 3/28, 3 MarchA
  • PhM 1/c John H. Willis, USN, 3/27, 28 FebruaryA

A Posthumous