There are some 300 Japanese tunnels and caves on the island of Iwo Jima. ONLY 5 of these 300 tunnels are deemed “safe”, and visitors are ONLY allowed to enter and explore these five “safe” tunnels and caves. The other 297 tunnels and caves are off-limits. The risk of cave-ins, affixation, and undetected booby traps being too high to allow visitors to enter. During our 72 hours on the island, we the BATTLE RATS found and explored 54 different Japanese tunnels. Each of which were marked with GPS waypoints. I would like it known that while we did at times take chances and risks, we did exude a certain degree of caution and were not foolhardy in our tunnel explorations.

As we made our way inland from the landing beaches we came across trails of spent shell casings. You could literally follow the path of individual Marines, and see how they fought their way off the beaches and began to move towards their objectives such as Mount Suribachi, Motoyama #1 (the main Japanese airfield), and the cliffs of the East Boat Basin. The Marines landed into an inverted “U” trap, to where the Japanese held the high ground on both the left and right flanks, and was dug-in all along, and behind the runways.

It never fails to impress me, the level of intensity of which the landing beaches were shelled. Even today you can walk along the beaches and stumble upon large shrapnel fragments that rained down upon the Marines. Some of these are the size of your hand, and even larger! If there was one weapon that the Japanese used with brutal efficiency, it would have to be their artillery. The entire landing area was “dialed-in” with preregistered firing coordinates that allowed the Japanese gunners and mortarmen to saturate the “Marine” targets. As the sand was nothing but loose volcanic ash, it was next to impossible for the Marines to dig-in and seek cover from the incessant Japanese shelling.