26th Marines Col Chester B. Graham
1/26 LtCol Daniel C. Pollock
2/26 LtCol Joseph P. Sayers
3/26 LtCol Tom M. Trotti
27th Marines Col Thomas A. Wornham
1/27 LtCol John A. Butler
2/27 Maj John W. Antonelli
3/27 LtCol Donn J. Robertson
28th Marines Col Harry B. Liversedge
1/28 LtCol Jackson B. Butterfield
2/28 LtCol Chandler W. Johnson
3/28 LtCol Charles E. Shepard, Jr.
[Note: Of those infantry battalion commanders who landed on Iwo Jima on
D-Day, only seven remained unwounded and still retained command at the
battle’s end.]
]
_Sources_
The official records of the V Amphibious Corps at Iwo Jima occupy
27 boxes in the USMC archives. Within this maze, the most useful
information can be found in the “comments and recommendations” sections
of the After Action Reports filed by the major units. The best
published official account of the battle is contained in George W.
Garand and Truman R. Strobridge, _Western Pacific Operations_, vol IV,
_History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II_ (Washington:
Historical Division, HQMC, 1971). Three other official accounts are
recommended: LtCol Whitman S. Bartley, _Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic_
(Washington: Historical Division, 1954); Capt Clifford P. Morehouse,
_The Iwo Jima Operation_, and Bernard C. Nalty, _The U.S. Marines on
Iwo Jima: The Battle and the Flag Raising_ (Washington: Historical
Branch, G-3 Division, HQMC, 1960). Chapter 10 of Jeter A. Isely and
Philip A. Crowl, _The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War_ (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1951), combines exhaustive research
and keen analysis of the assault on Iwo. Three of the many postwar
published accounts are particularly recommended: Richard F. Newcomb,
_Iwo Jima_ (New York: Bantam, 1982); Richard Wheeler, _Iwo Jima_ (New
York: Crowell, 1980); and Bill D. Ross, _Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor_
(New York: Vanguard Press, 1985).
The most comprehensive Japanese account is contained in Part II
(“Ogasawara Islands Defense Operations”) in _Chubu Taiheyo rikugen
sakusen (2)_ [Army Operations in the Central Pacific, vol II], part of
the _Senshi Sosho_ War History Series. Of Japanese accounts in English,
the best is Major Yoshitaka Horie’s “Explanation of Japanese Defense
Plan and Battle of Iwo Jima,” written in 1946 and available at the
Marine Corps Historical Center (MCHC).
The MCHC maintains an abundance of personal accounts related to Iwo
Jima. Among the most valuable of these are the Iwo Jima comments in
the Princeton Papers Collection in the Personal Papers Section. The
Marine Corps Oral History Collection contains 36 well-indexed memoirs
of Iwo Jima participants. The research library contains a limited
edition of _Dear Progeny_, the autobiography of Dr. Michael F. Keleher,
the battalion surgeon credited with saving the life of “Jumping Joe”
Chambers on D+3. The Personal Papers Section also holds the papers
of TSgt Frederick K. Dashiell, Lt John K. McLean, and Lt Eugene T.
Petersen. For an increased insight, the author also conducted personal
interviews with 41 Iwo veterans.
The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Marvin Taylor of
the Marine Rocket Troops Association; Helen McDonald of the Admiral
Nimitz Museum: Frederick and Thomas Dashiell; LtCol Joseph McNamara,
USMCR; BGen James D. Hittle, USMC (Ret); Mr. Bunichi Ohtsuka; and the
entire staff of the Marine Corps Historical Center, whose collective
“can-do” spirit was personified by the late Regina Strother, photograph
archivist.
_About the Author_
[Illustration]
Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret), served 29 years on active
duty in the Marine Corps as an assault amphibian officer, including
two tours in Vietnam. He is a distinguished graduate of the Naval War
College and holds degrees in history from North Carolina, Georgetown,
and Jacksonville. He is a life member of both the Marine Corps
Historical Foundation and the Naval Institute, a member of the Society
for Military History, the Military Order of the World Wars, and the
North Carolina Writers’ Workshop.
Colonel Alexander, an independent historian, wrote _Across the Reef:
The Marine Assault on Tarawa_ in this series. He is co-author (with
Lieutenant Colonel Merrill L. Bartlett) of _Sea Soldiers in the Cold
War_ (Naval Institute Press, 1994) and the author of “Utmost Savagery:
the Amphibious Seizure of Tarawa” (Naval Institute Press, pending).
He has also written numerous feature essays published in _Marine
Corps Gazette_, _Naval Institute Proceedings_, _Naval History_,
_Leatherneck_, _Amphibious Warfare Review_, _World War Two_, and
_Florida Historical Quarterly_.
[Illustration]
THIS PAMPHLET HISTORY, one in a series devoted to U.S. Marines in
the World War II era, is published for the education and training of
Marines by the History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps, Washington, D.C., as a part of the U.S. Department of Defense
observance of the 50th anniversary of victory in that war.
Editorial costs of preparing this pamphlet have been defrayed in part
by a grant from the Marine Corps Historical Foundation.