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Battle of Iwo Jima: Quick Facts

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Man accused of beheading Iwo Jima statue in Virginia with sledgehammer • Oct. 23, 2026, 1:27 AM ET (CNN)

Facts

Date February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
Location Iwo Jima • Japan
Participants Japan • United States
Context World War II

Photos

Battle of Iwo Jima
Map showing the maximum territorial expansion of Japanese military forces in 1942 during World War II. The area of expansion is marked with red diagonal lines, covering large portions of East and Southeast Asia, the western Pacific, and islands reaching toward India and Australia. Japan's postwar territory is shaded in solid red. Key locations such as Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guam, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies are labeled, with country boundaries depicted as they were in 1942.
Map of Iwo Jima Island, Japan, showing key features such as Mount Suribachi, Hill 382 (Meatgrinder Hill), an air base, and surrounding rocks and points. The island is located in the Pacific Ocean, with an inset map indicating its position relative to Japan and East Asia.
Iwo Jima, Battle of
Iwo Jima, Battle of; DUKW
World War II: Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, Battle of; Pacific War
Iwo Jima, Battle of
Battle of Iwo Jima: U.S. Marines on Mount Suribachi
Iwo Jima, Battle of; United States Coast Guard
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Topics
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Timeline

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1933 - 1945
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Battle of the Atlantic
September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945
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Battle of France
May 10, 1940 - June 25, 1940
Dunkirk evacuation
Dunkirk evacuation
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940
Map showing the British and Axis military campaigns in North Africa during World War II, with labeled troop movements, key battles, and shifting front lines from Egypt across Libya to Tunisia along the Mediterranean coast. The map includes arrows and dates marking advances and retreats by both sides, and highlights major turning points and defensive lines.
North Africa campaigns
June 1940 - May 13, 1943
the Blitz
Battle of Britain
July 1940 - September 1940
German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor attack
December 7, 1941
Wake Island
Battle of Wake Island
December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
Pacific War
December 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
April 18, 1942
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
June 3, 1942 - June 6, 1942
eastern New Guinea, from the 10th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, c. 1902
Kokoda Track Campaign
July 1942 - January 1943
U.S. Marines in combat gear wade ashore from a landing craft onto a sandy beach during the Guadalcanal landing in August 1942.
Battle of Guadalcanal
August 1942 - February 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Operation Mincemeat documents
Operation Mincemeat
1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943
The Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
July 9, 1943 - August 17, 1943
Italian Campaign, World War II
Italian Campaign
July 9, 1943 - May 2, 1945
Battle of Anzio
Battle of Anzio
January 22, 1944 - June 5, 1944
American soldiers in helmets crouch inside a landing craft approaching a smoke-covered beach during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944.
Normandy Invasion
June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Cowra breakout
August 5, 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
October 23, 1944 - October 26, 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
U.S. Marines on Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
April 1, 1945 - June 21, 1945
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

Key People

Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
United States general
George C. Marshall
George C. Marshall
American military officer and government official
Tōjō Hideki
Tōjō Hideki
prime minister of Japan
Admiral William D. Leahy, chief of staff to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.
William Daniel Leahy
United States admiral and politician
Ernest Joseph King, chief of U.S. naval operations, 1942–45.
Ernest Joseph King
United States admiral
Chester W. Nimitz
Chester W. Nimitz
United States admiral

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