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The Bloody Battle for Suribachi: The Amazing Story of Iwo Jima that Inspired Flags of Our Fathers. Richard Wheeler, author. Skyhorse Publishing 2007. List price $12.95. ISBN 978-1-60239-180-2.

This is a revised version of this title, with a new introduction by the author and the addition of recently discovered photographs. The new subtitle reflects the publisher’s statement that "this book served as invaluable source material both for James Bradley’s bestseller Flags of Our Fathers as well as Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed film of the same name."

Iwo Jima was one of the most costly battles for the United States during World War II. The casualties were staggering for such a small island. The United States lost 6,821 killed and 19,217 wounded, plus 2,648 cases of "combat fatigue." The full extent of Japanese losses will never be known, but more than 95% – at least 20,000 men – lost their lives. An unknown number chose suicide rather than dishonoring themselves, their family and their ancestors by surrendering. Was Iwo Jima really worth this sacrifice? That is a question best left to those who fought there. Perhaps Chester Nimitz best described the fighting on Iwo Jima when he said, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

Among those who fought at Iwo Jima was an aspiring writer named Richard Wheeler. He enlisted in the Marines early in 1942 to fight the Japanese, but his training platoon was designated to serve as military police in guard detachments on the West Coast and in Alaska where "His most dangerous assignment was the directing of traffic at busy intersections." He finally got the assignment he’d sought when he was transferred to 3rd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. After intensive training, the 28th deployed overseas bound for Iwo Jima, a small volcanic island, the worth of which was measured by the fact it had two airfields and a third was being constructed. It would be the first Japan’s home islands to be invaded. To the high commands of both sides Iwo Jima looked like a dagger aimed straight at the heart of mainland Japan.

Its Japanese garrison was reinforced and received a new commander, Lieutenant General Kuribayashi Tadamichi. A former commander of the 1st Imperial Guard Division, which protected the Emperor, he had eight months to prepare the island against the coming invasion. Smart and aggressive, he knew that he could not hope to defeat the Americans, but he could make them pay for every yard they advanced. He had his troops dig in and prepare to fight.

Perhaps Iwo Jima could be considered the ultimate example of the sort of trench warfare that had characterized the First World War. Mount Suribachi was a fortress. Its height would dominate the battlefield. Numerous bunkers were connect by underground tunnels, trenches and anti-tank ditches. The defenders suffered only minimal casualties during seven months of bombings and intermittent attacks by the Navy. Likewise, three days of constant shelling from offshore warships and the final bombardment as the initial assault waves formed added little to reducing the underground defenses.

Corporal Richard Wheeler and the rest of the landing force hit the beach to discover it was very quiet. Black volcanic sand made footing treacherous and digging in nearly impossible. The quiet did not last long. From the moment the Japanese opened fire, the fight for Iwo Jima would be bitter and deadly with no quarter asked or given. The only Japanese prisoners taken would either be civilian conscripts or those who were rendered incapacitated via wounds – one series of photos shows a man buried alive in volcanic ash up to his neck.

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