[Sidebar (page 52):]
As the 3d, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions conducted their final preparations for Operation Detachment, these were the infantry commanders who would lead the way at the beginning of the battle:
| 3d Marine Division | |
| 3d Marines | Col James A. Stewart |
| 9th Marines | Col Howard N. Kenyon |
| 1/9 | LtCol Carey A. Randall |
| 2/9 | LtCol Robert E. Cushman, Jr. |
| 3/9 | LtCol Harold C. Boehm |
| 21st Marines | Col Hartnoll J. Withers |
| 1/21 | LtCol Marlowe C. Williams |
| 2/21 | LtCol Lowell E. English |
| 3/21 | LtCol Wendell H. Duplantis |
| 4th Marine Division | |
| 23d Marines | Col Walter W. Wensinger |
| 1/23 | LtCol Ralph Haas |
| 2/23 | Maj Robert H. Davidson |
| 3/23 | Maj James S. Scales |
| 24th Marines | Col Walter I. Jordan |
| 1/24 | Maj Paul S. Treitel |
| 2/24 | LtCol Richard Rothwell |
| 3/24 | LtCol Alexander A. Vandegrift, Jr. |
| 25th Marines | Col John R. Lanigan |
| 1/25 | LtCol Hollis U. Mustain |
| 2/25 | LtCol Lewis C. Hudson, Jr. |
| 3/25 | LtCol Justice M. Chambers |
| 5th Marine Division | |
| 26th Marines | Col Chester B. Graham |
| 1/26 | LtCol Daniel C. Pollock |
| 2/26 | LtCol Joseph P. Sayers |
| 3/26 | LtCol Tom M. Trotti |
| 27th Marines | Col Thomas A. Wornham |
| 1/27 | LtCol John A. Butler |
| 2/27 | Maj John W. Antonelli |
| 3/27 | LtCol Donn J. Robertson |
| 28th Marines | Col Harry B. Liversedge |
| 1/28 | LtCol Jackson B. Butterfield |
| 2/28 | LtCol Chandler W. Johnson |
| 3/28 | LtCol Charles E. Shepard, Jr. |
[Note: Of those infantry battalion commanders who landed on Iwo Jima on D-Day, only seven remained unwounded and still retained command at the battle’s end.]