_“Turkey Knob,” the outcropping which anchored the positions of the
Japanese_ 2d Mixed Brigade _against the advance of the 4th Marine
Division for many days, was sketched by Cpl Daniel L. Winsor, Jr.,
USMCR, S-2 Section, 25th Marines._]
[Illustration: _Weary troops of Company G, 2d Battalion, 24th Marines,
rest in a ditch, guarded by a Sherman tank. They are waiting for the
tanks to move forward to blast the numerous pillboxes between Motoyama
Airfields No. 1 and No. 2._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 109666
]
Holland Smith may have known the overall statistics of battle losses
sustained by the landing force to that point, but he may not have
fully appreciated the tremendous attrition of experienced junior
officers and senior staff noncommissioned officers taking place every
day. As one example, the day after the 3d Marines, many of whose
members were veterans of Bougainville and Guam, departed the amphibious
objective area, Company E, 2d Battalion, 23d Marines, suffered the loss
of its seventh company commander since the battle began. Likewise,
Lieutenant Colonel Cushman’s experiences with the 2d Battalion, 9th
Marines, seemed typical:
The casualties were fierce. By the time Iwo Jima was over I had
gone through two complete sets of platoon leaders, lieutenants.
After that we had such things as artillery forward observers
commanding companies and sergeants leading the platoons, which were
less than half-strength. It was that bad.
[Illustration: