War in the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima
Each time I make this trip I am struck by the vastness of the war in the Pacific and also by just how beautiful but forbidding the terrain can be. I am also struck by being at the “bookends” of such a crucial event in American history; starting where the first Japanese bombs fell at Pearl Harbor and ending on the runway where the B-29 bomber Enola Gay took off to drop the first atomic weapon on Japan.
A view of Saipan’s Mt. Topatchau from Tinian.
Old Glory flying over the USS Arizona Memorial
Japanese guns pulled from the jungle
American memorial at Guam landing beaches.
Japanese gun position Saipan
Suicide cliff on Saipan
Don Farrell (left) and Erik Flint (right) on Tinian's Runway Able where Enola Gay took off from.
Abandoned Japanese gun on Tinian.
Japanese gun position on Peleliu.
Relics of the fighting on Peleliu.
Sherman tank destroyed by a mine in deep in the Jungles of Peleliu.
Proudly displaying Old Glory with a guest on top of Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi.
Mount Suribachi dominates Iwo Jima.
A Japanese memorial on Mount Suribachi.
View the Japanese defenders had of the American landing beaches on Iwo.
The spot where the Stars and Stripes were raised over Mount Suribachi.