0:02 Ioima showed just how far human
0:04 suffering could go when no one was
0:05 willing to surrender. It became one of
0:07 the most haunting battles in human
0:08 history. Not just because of how many
0:10 lives were lost, but because of the way
0:12 that happened. On an island of just 8
0:15 square miles for 36 days, over 1,000
0:17 people died each day, and many of them
0:19 in ways too disturbing to speak of for
0:20 years. But the end of the battle didn't
0:22 mean the end of horror, as strange
0:23 things continued to happen on the island
0:26 for years afterward. This is the part of
0:28 history that was intentionally left out.
0:29 the other side of the metal of what was
0:33 supposed to be a victory.
0:34 Before we get into why fighting on this
0:36 island was so horrifying, let's quickly
0:38 set the stage so you have a better
0:40 picture of what was about to happen.
0:42 Iima was strategically important because
0:45 of its location. It sat almost exactly
0:46 halfway between the Mariana Islands and
0:48 Tokyo, right along the flight path of
0:51 B29 bombers attacking the Japanese
0:53 mainland. For the Japanese, it was a
0:54 forward early warning station and a
0:56 fighter base. For the Americans, it was
0:59 a serious problem. They wanted it gone,
1:00 and they wanted to secure it as a base
1:02 for emergency bomber landings and
1:05 fighter escorts. In October 1944,
1:07 Operation Detachment began. The plan was
1:09 to invade Euima. And to do that, the
1:11 United States assembled the largest
1:13 Marine force ever committed to a single
1:16 battle. Around 70,000 men were brought
1:17 together, supported by dozens of
1:20 warships and aircraft. For 74 days,
1:22 before the Marines even hit the beach,
1:23 American planes and ships dropped
1:25 thousands of tons of explosives on the
1:27 island. The final naval bombardment was
1:29 supposed to last 10 days, but it was cut
1:31 short after only three because from a
1:32 distance, the island looked like it had
1:34 been completely flattened. To American
1:36 commanders, it seemed like the island
1:38 had been pounded into submission, and
1:40 there was probably nothing significant
1:42 left alive on it. Well, they were about
1:43 to find out just how wrong and naive
1:46 that assumption really was.
1:48 Waiting on the island was the Japanese
1:50 109th Division under the command of
1:52 Lieutenant General Kurabayashi. For
1:54 months, his men had been turning Ewima
1:56 into a fortress, carefully preparing for
1:58 what they knew would be their final
2:00 stand. They understood the island's
2:02 importance, and they knew exactly what
2:04 the Americans were going to do to try
2:06 and take it. Kurayashi had a detailed
2:08 plan, but there was no plan for retreat,
2:10 no plan for victory, and no plan for
2:12 survival. He knew there was no way to
2:13 evacuate the island since it was
2:15 surrounded by the Allied fleet. and
2:16 there was no way to get reinforcements
2:18 or supplies. The defenders were there to
2:20 fight and to die, so they were going to
2:22 make it count. Learning from previous
2:24 battles and studying American amphibious
2:26 tactics, Kuribayashi reshaped the
2:28 defense to be as deadly and as difficult
2:31 to destroy as possible. About 22,000
2:33 Japanese soldiers worked day and night
2:35 preparing defensive positions, but not
2:37 in the usual way. The island was made of
2:39 volcanic rock, which made it easy to dig
2:42 by hand. Instead of waiting on the
2:43 beaches where American artillery and
2:45 naval gunfire would wipe them out, the
2:47 Japanese decided to disappear
2:49 underground. They built a hidden maze
2:51 beneath the island. Caves, reinforced
2:53 bunkers, pillboxes, and hardened firing
2:55 positions, all connected by tunnels. On
2:58 just eight square miles of land, over 11
3:00 mi of tunnels were dug out, linking
3:02 hundreds of hidden strong points beneath
3:04 the black volcanic surface. And this
3:06 time, there were no desperate banzai
3:08 charges. Every Japanese soldier was
3:10 ordered to kill at least 10 Americans
3:12 before being allowed to die. That meant
3:13 setting up ambushes, withdrawing and
3:15 reappearing, and using disturbingly
3:17 creative tactics meant to take as many
3:19 American lives as possible. And all of
3:20 it was already in place, quietly
3:22 waiting. So when the American
3:24 bombardment began, the Japanese simply
3:27 went deep underground. That heavy weeksl
3:29 long bombardment ended up causing
3:31 surprisingly few Japanese casualties.
3:33 And now with hundreds of landing craft
3:34 approaching the island, the stage was
3:36 set for what would become a true meat
3:39 grinder of a battle. It was February
3:42 19th, 1945. At exactly 8:59 in the
3:44 morning, wave after wave of marine
3:46 assault troops began storming ashore on
3:48 Euima's beaches under the cover of naval
3:50 gunfire. As they hit the sand, they were
3:52 surprised by how light the resistance
3:54 was. Only a few sporadic gunshots rang
3:56 out, and for the first hour, there was a
3:59 strange and ominous calm. Thousands of
4:01 Marines gathered on the beaches along
4:02 with their tanks and heavy equipment,
4:05 but it felt too quiet. Something was
4:06 clearly wrong, and many of the men
4:09 started to sense it. Kuribayashi had
4:11 ordered his troops to hold their fire
4:12 until the beaches were absolutely packed
4:14 with marines and vehicles. And just as
4:16 those first waves struggled through the
4:18 soft volcanic ash that clogged up their
4:20 landing craft and slowed every step, the
4:23 Japanese sprung their trap. Dozens of
4:24 pre-sighted and camouflaged artillery
4:26 batteries opened fire. Shells that had
4:28 been buried in the ash were remotely
4:30 detonated. Machine guns laid down
4:32 overlapping fields of fire, and every
4:34 available Japanese rifle opened up on
4:36 the densely packed beach. There was no
4:38 cover, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
4:40 The Marines tried to dig in, but the
4:42 volcanic sand offered almost no
4:44 protection. They were sitting ducks in a
4:46 deadly crossfire, and they were getting
4:49 absolutely decimated. These were the
4:51 first hours of the battle, and already
4:53 the casualties were in the thousands.
4:54 Marines were being cut down as they
4:56 desperately tried to move inland toward
4:58 their objectives. By the end of the day,
5:00 around 30,000 Marines had made it
5:02 ashore, but it came at a horrific cost.
5:04 In the days that followed, US Marines
5:06 pushed inland and set their sights on
5:08 capturing Mount Surabachi in the south.
5:10 They surrounded the base of the volcanic
5:12 cone and began a methodical assault
5:14 uphill, straight over a maze of hidden
5:17 caves and pillboxes. What they found was
5:19 a battlefield like nothing anyone had
5:22 ever seen. The Japanese were everywhere,
5:23 attacking from all directions at point
5:25 blank range and from positions that were
5:27 supposedly already cleared. Marines
5:29 quickly realized just how massive the
5:31 underground network of pillboxes,
5:33 bunkers, and tunnels really was.
5:34 Everything was connected. They would
5:36 clear out a position and move forward
5:38 only for Japanese troops to reappear
5:40 behind them from that same spot and open
5:42 fire. It was chaos. There were no clear
5:44 front lines. Bayonet charges and
5:45 hand-to-hand fighting broke out
5:48 constantly. And the worst part was this
5:50 was still just the beginning. The most
5:52 brutal phase of the battle was still to
5:54 come. And here, one weapon would become
5:55 the symbol of just how close and brutal
5:57 the fighting really was, the
5:59 flamethrower. We actually have a
6:01 separate video talking all about this
6:02 weapon, but it's important to mention it
6:04 here as well. Flamethrowers were
6:06 credited as the weapon that ultimately
6:08 brought victory on Euoima, but they were
6:10 also known as both the best and the
6:12 worst weapon marines had. Their
6:14 operators rarely survived long. In fact,
6:17 92% of them were killed on Euima.
6:19 Flamethrowers had only about 20 yards of
6:21 effective range and just 7 seconds of
6:23 actual firing time before running out of
6:26 fuel. The weapon weighed 70 lb when
6:27 fully loaded, so good luck storming
6:29 uphill with that on your back. And if
6:30 the enemy caught you alive, that was
6:33 probably a worse fate than dying. One
6:34 operator reached a cave entrance and
6:36 prepared to fire, but his flamethrower
6:38 misfired. Two Japanese soldiers saw
6:40 their chance, rushed out, grabbed him,
6:43 and dragged him back inside. For 2 days,
6:44 his fellow Marines could hear his
6:46 screams echoing from that cave. They
6:48 couldn't reach him or even end his
6:50 suffering. Still, flamethrowers were the
6:52 only reliable way to destroy the pill
6:53 boxes connected by tunnels, and the
6:56 Japanese knew it. So, every time a
6:57 flamethrower appeared, the entire front
6:59 would light up and try to take that man
7:01 down. Eventually, the Zippo Shermans
7:03 arrived, modified tanks fitted with
7:05 massive flamethrowers that had greater
7:06 range, more fuel, and much better
7:09 survivability. To the Japanese, these
7:10 tanks were the worst nightmare
7:12 imaginable. Their effects were
7:14 horrifying. And if you're curious, there
7:16 are still videos online showing them in
7:18 action. Though frankly, I wouldn't
7:20 recommend watching them. On the fourth
7:22 day of battle, a patrol of Marines broke
7:23 through to the summit of Mount
7:25 Surabbachi and raised a small American
7:26 flag on a piece of pipe to signal its
7:29 capture. A few hours later, a second,
7:31 larger flag, was raised and
7:33 photographed. Marine Corps photographer
7:35 Bill Janow, who filmed and photographed
7:37 that second flag raising, was later
7:39 killed while clearing a cave. The cave
7:41 entrance was collapsed with TNT, and his
7:43 body was never recovered. But the fall
7:45 of Mount Surabbachi, while a major
7:46 objective, was not even close to the end
7:49 of the horrific fighting that lay ahead.
7:51 Only about onethird of the island, was
7:53 now secured, and the Marines still did
7:55 not realize just how extensive the
7:56 underground Japanese positions really
7:58 were. The enemy still held a dense
8:00 network of defensive zones across the
8:02 wider northern part of the island,
8:04 including several fortified high grounds
8:06 that had to be captured by hand.
8:09 Progress became slow and punishing. The
8:10 Marines were paying for every inch of
8:12 ground in blood whenever they took a
8:14 hill or ridge, often with dozens of
8:16 casualties. Japanese soldiers would
8:17 suddenly emerge from behind or from the
8:19 flanks and open fire again from ground
8:21 that was supposed to be cleared.
8:23 Relentless naval gunfire and air strikes
8:24 were called in constantly, but
8:26 flamethrowers and grenades remained the
8:28 only weapons that could actually clear
8:30 out the tunnels and pillboxes
8:32 effectively. Meanwhile, inside those
8:34 tunnels, the Japanese were enduring
8:36 truly horrific conditions. The volcanic
8:38 rock trapped heat and filled the air
8:40 with sulfur. Many tunnel sections had
8:41 collapsed from the bombardment or their
8:43 entrances had been sealed. So, the
8:45 defenders were often trapped in total
8:47 darkness, sometimes for days without
8:49 water, food, fresh air, or even a way
8:51 out. Speaking of grenades, there was one
8:53 moment that defined the kind of courage
8:56 this battle demanded. Navy Corman John
8:58 H. Willis saved wounded Marines by
8:59 picking up and throwing back eight
9:01 Japanese grenades. He grabbed a ninth
9:04 one to throw it too, but it exploded in
9:06 his hand, killing him instantly. He was
9:08 postuously awarded the Medal of Honor,
9:11 and he was just one of many. On Euima,
9:13 that kind of bravery was a daily
9:16 occurrence. In just 36 days of fighting,
9:18 27 medals of honor were earned. 14 of
9:20 them were awarded postumously. That is
9:22 more than a quarter of all the medals of
9:24 honor earned by Marines during the
9:26 entire Second World War. All from this
9:28 single battle. As the Marines eventually
9:30 managed to cut the island in half and
9:31 push the remaining Japanese defenders
9:34 back, the fighting still did not stop.
9:36 The Japanese were now almost completely
9:38 out of water. But they kept fighting
9:41 fanatically. Small groups would slip
9:42 through American lines at night, trying
9:44 to scavenge weapons and cantens or just
9:46 to terrorize the exhausted Marines who
9:49 could never truly feel safe. Some
9:50 Japanese soldiers wore American uniforms
9:53 to sneak closer. Others shouted medic or
9:55 coreman in English, trying to lure out
9:57 American medics or trick them into
9:59 revealing their positions. Medics were a
10:01 prime target, and around 60% of them
10:04 became casualties. Many Japanese
10:05 soldiers had been heavily indoctrinated
10:07 with the belief that Americans would do
10:09 horrific things to them, even going as
10:11 far as eating them. So, surrender was
10:13 not just a violation of Hushido, it was
10:15 also something they believed would lead
10:17 to torture or death. Even when wounded
10:20 or dying, they tried to kill. A wounded
10:21 Japanese soldier grabbed a scalpel and
10:23 stabbed the surgeon who was treating
10:25 him. He was shot on the spot. Others
10:26 booby trapped themselves. They would
10:28 strap grenades to their bodies using
10:30 rubber bands soaked in gasoline with the
10:32 pins already pulled. After some time,
10:33 the gasoline would eat through the
10:35 rubber, releasing the grenade spoon and
10:37 triggering an explosion. Some fake
10:38 surrender just to get close enough to
10:40 throw a grenade. Because of this,
10:42 Marines eventually stopped taking
10:44 prisoners. It became a nightmare in
10:46 every possible way. The danger was
10:48 constant and it came from places you
10:50 could not even imagine. And yes, there
10:52 were brutal acts committed on both sides
10:54 against captured soldiers. Many of those
10:55 we cannot even talk about here on
10:57 YouTube, but you can probably imagine
10:59 what that means. By March 16th,
11:01 organized resistance had largely ceased
11:03 and the island was officially declared
11:05 secured by US command. However, there
11:07 were still hundreds of Japanese soldiers
11:08 underground and they still weren't
11:11 quitting. General Kuribayashi himself
11:13 had withdrawn into a northern cave. On
11:15 the night of March 25th, in one final
11:17 act of defiance, around 300 remaining
11:19 Japanese troops who could still fight
11:20 were led in a surprise attack by a
11:23 senior officer. Some accounts claim this
11:24 might have even been Kurabayashi
11:27 himself. They burst out of the tunnels
11:29 in a sudden banzai attack behind
11:31 American lines. They struck an airfield
11:33 supply depot and overran part of a field
11:35 hospital, killing everyone in their
11:37 path, including the wounded. By dawn,
11:40 the rampage was finally brought to an
11:42 end. After this, the battle of Euajima
11:44 was officially over. After 36 days of
11:46 non-stop fighting with around 30,000
11:48 people dead and another 20,000 wounded,
11:52 it was finally over. Or was it? Just
11:54 wait for a second. Take a moment to
11:56 truly grasp those numbers. About 1,000
11:59 people, both Japanese and American, died
12:00 every single day. And that happened on a
12:03 tiny island, not across some vast front
12:06 stretching for hundreds of kilome. So
12:07 many horrors were packed into such a
12:09 small space and short period of time
12:11 that no account or documentary could
12:13 ever fully capture what it felt like.
12:14 Even after the island was declared
12:16 secured, Marines spent weeks clearing
12:18 bunkers and caves with flamethrowers and
12:20 demolition charges because holdouts were
12:22 still sniping and booby trapping the
12:25 area. Around 3,000 Japanese soldiers
12:27 were found hiding in the tunnel systems
12:29 in the weeks that followed. Most of them
12:30 refused to surrender and were either
12:32 killed by Marines or simply never
12:35 emerged from those caves. But listen to
12:37 this. Two Japanese soldiers managed to
12:39 survive and evade capture by hiding in
12:41 the island's jungle and caves for four
12:44 more years after the war had ended. They
12:46 were finally caught in January 1949
12:48 after they learned that the war had long
12:51 been over. For weeks after the island
12:52 was declared secure, muffled gunshots
12:54 and explosions could still be heard from
12:56 inside the caves. And you can probably
12:59 imagine what those sounds meant. Many
13:00 were too afraid to come out or simply
13:02 too wounded, too weak, or too far gone
13:04 to surrender. Perhaps the darkest part
13:07 of all of this is what came next. Most
13:09 of those tunnel systems and cave
13:10 networks were sealed after the battle,
13:12 but at the time they were sealed, there
13:14 were still people alive inside. Now,
13:17 just take this in. Only a few thousand
13:19 Japanese were officially buried. As of
13:21 today, 12,000 Japanese soldiers are
13:24 still listed as missing. So are 218
13:26 Americans. They are somewhere beneath
13:28 the ground of Euima. And all we can do
13:29 is imagine what their final moments
13:32 might have looked like. The Americans
13:33 captured the island, repaired the
13:34 airirst strips, and used it for the
13:36 exact reason they had fought so hard to
13:39 take it. And yet, the war would soon end
13:41 in that infamous way we all know. What
13:43 makes everything you just heard even
13:44 worse is the fact that it might have
13:46 been completely avoidable. Some believe
13:47 the Americans could have simply
13:49 surrounded the island and waited it out,
13:51 forcing the Japanese to surrender or die
13:54 inside their fortress. Some veterans
13:56 later questioned why the atomic bomb was
13:58 never used on Euima instead of on
14:00 Japanese cities since the island had no
14:02 civilian population. There were a lot of
14:03 hard questions after the battle.
14:05 Questions about whether the cost was
14:08 justified. In postwar analysis, Ioima
14:09 was considered helpful to the bombing
14:11 campaign, but not absolutely necessary
14:13 and certainly not for the price that was
14:16 paid. On the Japanese side, it was even
14:19 worse. Out of more than 20,000 men, only
14:22 216 surrendered and survived. The darker
14:24 truth is that the vast majority of them
14:25 are still there, buried in the same
14:27 tunnels they dug before the battle
14:29 began. Today, Ioima is a Japanese
14:31 military base with restricted access.
14:33 And even now, almost 80 years later, it
14:35 still bears the scars of one of the most
