_Flamethrower teams look like futuristic fighters as they leave their
assembly area heading for the front lines. The casualty rate for
flamethrower operators was high, since they were prime targets for
Japanese fire because of the profile they had with the flamethrowers
strapped to their backs. When they fell, others took their places._]
That night the amphibious task force experienced the only significant
air attack of the battle. Fifty _kamikaze_ pilots from the _22d Mitate
Special Attack Unit_ left Katori Airbase near Yokosuka and flung
themselves against the ships on the outer perimeter of Iwo Jima. In
desperate action that would serve as a prelude to Okinawa’s fiery
engagements, the _kamikazes_ sank the escort carrier _Bismarck Sea_
with heavy loss of life and damaged several other ships, including the
veteran _Saratoga_, finally knocked out of the war. All 50 Japanese
planes were expended.
It rained even harder on the fourth morning, D+3. Marines scampering
forward under fire would hit the deck, roll, attempt to return
fire--only to discover that the loose volcanic grit had combined with
the rain to jam their weapons. The 21st Marines, as the vanguard
of the 3d Marine Division, hoped for good fortune in its initial
commitment after relieving the 23d Marines. The regiment instead ran
headlong into an intricate series of Japanese emplacements which marked
the southeastern end of the main Japanese defenses. The newcomers
fought hard all day to scratch and claw an advance of 200 net yards.
Casualties were disproportionate.
[Illustration: _In the attack of the 28th Marines on the dominating
height, a 37mm guncrew fires at caves at the foot of Suribachi
suspected of holding Japanese gun positions._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 110139
]
On the right flank, Lieutenant Colonel Chambers continued to rally
the 3d Battalion, 25th Marines, through the rough pinnacles above the
Rock Quarry. As he strode about directing the advance of his decimated
companies that afternoon, a Japanese gunner shot him through the chest.
Chambers went down hard, thinking it was all over:
I started fading in and out. I don’t remember too much about it
except the frothy blood gushing out of my mouth.... Then somebody
started kicking the hell out of my feet. It was [Captain James]
Headley saying, “Get up, you were hurt worse on Tulagi!”
Captain Headley knew Chambers’ sucking chest wound portended a grave
injury; he sought to reduce his commander’s shock until they could get
him out of the line of fire. This took doing. Lieutenant Michael F.
Keleher, USNR, now the battalion surgeon, crawled forward with one of
his corpsmen. Willing hands lifted Chambers on a stretcher. Keleher
and several others, bent double against the fire, carried him down
the cliffs to the aid station and eventually on board a DUKW making
the evening’s last run out to the hospital ships. All three battalion
commanders in the 25th Marines had now become casualties. Chambers
would survive to receive the Medal of Honor; Captain Headley would
command the shot-up 3d Battalion, 25th Marines, for the duration of the
battle.
[Illustration: