Military Snapshots - Antiemplacement assaults on Iwo Jima

Closely coordinated antiemplacement attacks using combined arms and split-second timing were a significant feature of preassault training for Iwo Jima. The lessons behind the training had come at a high price over the course of the Pacific War. First, one or two flamethrower assaultmen directed their fire at one position, then infantrymen pelted the position with hand grenades and gunfire, and finally demolitions assaultmen blew up the emplacement with satchel charges. Photo courtesy of Official USMC Archives, from Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle by Eric Hammel.