To The Shores Of Iwo Jima by Warner Bros.

PublicDomain

Technicolor WWII documentary

Transcript

00:00The End

00:30This is the Pacific as you know it.

00:35Wide stretches of water.

00:38But this is the Pacific as the Joint Chiefs of Staff view it.

00:43A battlefield.

00:44A vast fortress-studded plain

00:46on which key strongholds anchor a Japanese defense line

00:51guarding the heart of the homeland.

00:53The American front lines had advanced to Guam and Saipan.

00:58Ahead now stood Iwo Jima,

01:00the most heavily fortified island in the world.

01:04Buried deep underground,

01:06laid 20 years of Jap preparation for murder.

01:0920,000 of their toughest fighting men

01:12waited for us to make the first move.

01:19And they don't have to wait long.

01:21The Navy begins to soften up the island so we can land.

01:26The Navy begins to soften up the island so we can land.

01:26Oh, my God.

01:30The Navy begins to assure our enemies.

01:35The Navy begins to see us.

01:36The Navy begins to release us.

01:37The Navy begins to see us.

01:38The Navy begins to see us.

01:39Planes from our carrier force take off to strafe and bomb.

02:09Planes from our carrier force take off to strafe and bomb.

02:39Gunboats move in close to work over enemy beach installations.

02:57Enemy fire gets closer.

03:27Gunboats move in close to work over enemy.

03:37Gunboats move in close to work over enemy.

03:44D-Day, the beginning of the toughest 26 days in Marine Corps history.

04:09We watched the central control vessel.

04:14When this flag drops, our landing craft will head for the beach.

04:44Five hundred landing craft and ten waves advance on 3,000 yards of beach.

05:12Five hundred and twenty days away.

05:17Five hundred and twenty days away.

05:23The enemy fire keeps moving.

05:29enemy fire keeps us pinned down we want to pull the beach over our heads like a blanket

05:59maybe medical corpsmen get our wounded out fast our tanks come ashore and grind inland

06:29we're able to advance from yellow beach but it's slow going

06:59we run into trouble on Green Beach from their fortified positions on Mount Suribachi

07:19the Japs look right down our throats

07:29we need help

07:57we call the command ship standing offshore our message is received the situation map is checked

08:06the sport air director contacts carrier plane circling the target the plate leader receives

08:13his instructions

08:14so

08:22As we hit sort of buchy from the air,

08:50the air supporting ship deliver point blank fire.

09:20After 72 hours of continuous pounding, our patrols move forward.

09:27The mortar barrage searches out hidden machine gun nests.

09:33Keep a sharp lookout for snipers.

09:52General Turner gives the order to cease fire.

09:59Our guns are quiet as they make the climb.

10:06We wait for a sign.

10:08Suribachi is ours.

10:13Suribachi is ours.

10:32A toehold on the southern tip of the island.

10:47But ahead, the main strength of the Jap garrison was entrenched in steel and concrete.

10:54The show was just beginning.

11:03Navy and Coast Guardsmen rush supplies ashore for the big push north.

11:09Navy and Coast Guardsmen rushes

11:16You never saw it, Jack, but fire was coming out of every hole in every rock.

11:46It was tough going, many didn't make it.

12:11It was tough going, many didn't make it.

12:18Crossfire ahead is murderous.

12:43Rocket trucks go into action.

12:55The Japs spot our position.

13:02We don't even have time to remove our dead.

13:17There are heavy defenses on the ridges overlooking this plane.

13:24They draw a bead on us again.

13:31They draw a bead on us again.

13:46They chased us off there five times.

14:01We came back six.

14:08We brought in our wounded, and we took a breather.

14:23The injured are carried to the rear.

14:38Plasma's given on the way.

14:45Hospital dugouts are ready for anything.

14:53And we are ready to advance again.

14:56We call for artillery.

15:00Dr.

15:21Our artillery duel develops at night.

15:37One of our ammunition dumps goes up.

15:55In two weeks, we've cleaned out plenty of japs between here and Suribachi.

16:06But there's still a lot of island to be taken, with thousands of japs fighting from blockhouses, pillboxes, and caves.

16:19We have to go in and dig them out, one by one.

16:36We can't dig them out, we burn them out.

16:51We can't dig them out, we burn them out, we burn them out.

17:06We can't dig them out, we burn them out, we burn them out, we burn them out, we burn them out.

17:21We burn them out, we burn them out, we burn them out.

17:36We burn them out, we burn them out.

17:57While we fought, we prayed.

18:02Along the beach was only a small part of the cost of 26 days of fighting.

18:20Beautiful Queenie.

18:49And there were other names, too.

18:57Names of our friends.

18:58We stacked the helmets of our dead in neat piles.

19:10Helmets of 4,000 men who died to take a tiny island somewhere in the Pacific.

19:19You're right, Marine.

19:20You've taken a tiny island.

19:27But it's not just eight square miles of rock.

19:30Today, it's an American fortress only four hours from Tokyo.

19:39Today, from your little island, giant striking forces are launched against the heart of Japan.

19:43Today, our planes and ships are blasting the enemy into ashes at the foot of Fujiyama.

19:52With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.

20:07So help us go.

20:08So help us go.

20:09So help us go.

20:10So help us go.

20:14Well done.

20:15Thank you very much.

20:17Thank you very much.

20:19That was a great time.

20:20We'll see you soon.

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