Japanese promise to recover Iwo Jima fallen

World War II Japanese Military
#1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11989408

Chaps, have a look at this link to the BBC. I’m amazed there are still 13,000 odd bodies there. I’ve seen the Clint Eastwood film ‘Letter’s from Iwo Jima’ (IMHO the better of the two films on that subject matter he made) but until I saw this article didn’t realsie how far away the Island was from mainland Japan. I had always wrongly assumed it wasn’t that far from Okinawa. Nor did I realise it had been translated wrong and was actually Iwo Ito.

#2

I am a veteran of the battle of Iwo Jima and have written and lectured about it. The island’s name was changed to Iwo To (not Iwo Ito).

A few years ago, I was present at a meeting in Washington at which a Japanese official sought information about possible mass graves on Iwo Jima. He believed that the huge airstrips constructed after the island was seized were constructed over mass graves. Published data holds that some 19 to 20 thousand Japanese were killed on Iwo Jima. The official gave a figure, as I remember, of over 13 thousand unaccounted for at that juncture.

While I was unable to shed any light on possible such grave sites, am sure many of Japanese KIAs were buried together in large graves. Whether or not the air strips were built over them, cannot say. As anyone who has experienced a battlefield can tell you, cleaning it up quickly for health and sanitation reasons is a must.

#3

Six years ，it’s too long ……

#4

He is long gone, but my seabee uncle spoke of bulldozing many dead sons of the emperor into big holes they made.

Reasons are obvious.

He was on several islands, including extended time on Guadalcanal, so I don’t know where he was talking about.