Marines Mop Up On Iwo Jima Monuments Being Cleaned As 50th Anniversary Nears

Fifty years after one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, U.S. Marines have once again landed on Iwo Jima. This time, however, they are armed with paint brushes, lawn mowers and portable toilets.

Sixty Marines this week began preparing for the return of more than 1,000 veterans of the battle for the small Pacific island, a fight that has come to symbolize the brutality of war.

The Marines have begun cleaning monuments, cutting back jungle undergrowth and pouring cement pedestals for flag-raising ceremonies.

For many, Iwo Jima is hallowed ground.

More medals of honor were awarded to Marines and sailors for valor at Iwo Jima than for any other single operation during World War II, and a photo of five Marines and a Navy medic raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi remains one of the premier symbols of the war.

“I’ve been in for 18 years, and this is definitely the highlight,” Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Bell said Thursday as he stood by a stone memorial on Suribachi’s peak. “Iwo Jima is special to every Marine. It’s become a part of our tradition.”

The ground fighting began Feb. 19, 1945.

In 36 days, U.S. casualties - including army soldiers - numbered 26,000, including 6,821 dead. For the Japanese, the toll was even more gruesome. Of the island’s 20,000 defenders, only 1,083 survived.

Thousands of the dead are still missing, their bones hidden in the volcanic island’s intricate web of tunnels.

The secretary of the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps commandant are among the American dignitaries expected to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration March 14, the day the battle ended.

Another 1,100 American and 110 Japanese veterans are also expected.

“They are the heroes,” Bell said. “They are what it is all about.”

Iwo Jima is once again covered with a lush blanket of flora, but reminders of its violent past are everywhere, from Suribachi’s artillerypocked slopes to the corroded shrapnel sticking out of the black sands of Invasion Beach.

The island’s only residents now are Japanese Self-Defense Forces, who maintain a small airfield. Because of a lack of housing, all ceremony guests will fly to the island in the morning and leave the same evening.

Japan’s military will provide support for the ceremony, but the government will have no official role. News reports have attributed that to a preference among many officials to play down this country’s militarist past.

Marine Lt. Col. Steve Gould, one of the officers in charge of preparations, acknowledged that the anniversary is a sensitive issue, but said the Marines are being careful not to ruffle feathers.

“This is not a victory celebration,” he said. “It’s a memorial. We are commemorating a battle in which so many brave Japanese and Americans lost their lives.”