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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:00,868 --> 00:00:02,370 In late 1944, 2 00:00:02,402 --> 00:00:06,873 the Pacific War is building to a brutal climax. 3 00:00:06,907 --> 00:00:10,244 One island swallows an entire Marine regiment. 4 00:00:10,277 --> 00:00:14,348 We were in a death trap on Peleliu. 5 00:00:14,381 --> 00:00:16,950 Another becomes a beacon of bravery. 6 00:00:16,984 --> 00:00:21,121 Iwo Jima was 36 days of pure hell. 7 00:00:21,154 --> 00:00:24,591 Japan fights with ferocity. 8 00:00:24,625 --> 00:00:27,128 America fights with fire -- 9 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,729 igniting the war’s deadliest day. 10 00:00:29,763 --> 00:00:31,098 It was as though Tokyo 11 00:00:31,131 --> 00:00:33,900 had dropped through the floor of the world. 12 00:00:33,934 --> 00:00:35,869 With rare home movies ... 13 00:00:35,903 --> 00:00:38,038 and front line stories ... 14 00:00:38,071 --> 00:00:41,308 hear the voices... and feel the fight. 15 00:00:41,341 --> 00:00:44,945 My heart pounded as we churned toward that inferno. 18 00:01:01,995 --> 00:01:03,763 I became part of a proud, high-spirited, 19 00:01:03,797 --> 00:01:07,134 elite outfit. 20 00:01:07,167 --> 00:01:08,969 Twenty-year-old Eugene Sledge 21 00:01:09,002 --> 00:01:11,137 is just joining the 1st Marines 22 00:01:11,171 --> 00:01:15,142 as they train in the Pacific in 1944. 23 00:01:17,411 --> 00:01:19,079 The division was gutted in battles 24 00:01:19,112 --> 00:01:23,550 for Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester. 25 00:01:23,584 --> 00:01:27,188 They are full of replacements like Sledge. 26 00:01:27,220 --> 00:01:30,857 Eighty-five percent are not yet 21. 27 00:01:33,327 --> 00:01:35,162 The veterans taught the replacements 28 00:01:35,195 --> 00:01:40,667 all the ins and outs of combat with a ruthless foe. 29 00:01:40,701 --> 00:01:43,137 They’re on a tropical South Pacific island 30 00:01:43,170 --> 00:01:49,443 called Pavuvu. It sounds like paradise. 31 00:01:49,476 --> 00:01:52,980 The 1st Marines think it’s a hellhole. 32 00:01:55,015 --> 00:01:57,518 We led a Spartan existence. 33 00:01:57,551 --> 00:02:03,290 Warmed-over C-rations and stale coffee passed for chow. 34 00:02:03,323 --> 00:02:08,295 Space is so tight they have to march in circles. 35 00:02:08,328 --> 00:02:13,200 Every drill is a battle with bugs. 36 00:02:13,233 --> 00:02:17,471 Some joke that they’ll welcome a return to combat. 37 00:02:20,507 --> 00:02:25,779 Until they’re loading up for their next battle. 38 00:02:25,812 --> 00:02:29,683 We, not being fools, were all scared to death. 39 00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:33,053 The veterans, because they knew what to expect. 40 00:02:33,086 --> 00:02:36,423 The new men, because we didn’t. 42 00:02:51,104 --> 00:02:53,740 I hung weakly to the side of the tractor 43 00:02:53,774 --> 00:02:57,745 and prayed that I would do my duty, survive, 44 00:02:57,778 --> 00:03:03,183 and not wet my pants. 45 00:03:03,216 --> 00:03:08,822 Sledge inches closer to his first combat. 46 00:03:08,855 --> 00:03:13,326 The scene before him is pure hell. 47 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,263 The beach was a sheet of flame 48 00:03:16,296 --> 00:03:19,666 backed by a huge wall of black smoke, 49 00:03:19,700 --> 00:03:23,404 as though the island was on fire. 51 00:03:28,241 --> 00:03:29,843 The beach is already smoldering 52 00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:33,046 with twisted metal and blood. 53 00:03:35,449 --> 00:03:42,222 My heart pounded as we churned toward that inferno. 54 00:03:42,255 --> 00:03:49,729 We got to the beach amid erupting shell bursts 55 00:03:49,763 --> 00:03:51,932 and the rattle of enemy machine gun bullets 56 00:03:51,965 --> 00:03:54,801 against the steel Amtrac. 57 00:03:58,004 --> 00:03:59,839 Within an hour, casualties number 58 00:03:59,873 --> 00:04:02,676 in the hundreds... 59 00:04:02,709 --> 00:04:07,013 ... while the advance is measured in yards. 60 00:04:07,047 --> 00:04:10,617 The 1st Marines are taking it on the chin. 61 00:04:14,788 --> 00:04:17,391 Americans want Peleliu in case it interferes 62 00:04:17,424 --> 00:04:21,929 with a bigger invasion on the way -- the Philippines. 63 00:04:26,199 --> 00:04:28,068 Japanese film shows them overrunning 64 00:04:28,101 --> 00:04:32,606 the American territory in 1941, taking control 65 00:04:32,639 --> 00:04:39,679 of 16 million Filipinos and 7,000 American POWs. 66 00:04:39,713 --> 00:04:42,583 Ever since, Army General Douglas MacArthur 67 00:04:42,616 --> 00:04:45,719 has been itching to take it back. 68 00:04:45,752 --> 00:04:48,855 At every opportunity, he repeats his mantra: 69 00:04:48,889 --> 00:04:51,558 "I shall return." 70 00:04:51,591 --> 00:04:57,831 He makes the promise; America makes the plan. 71 00:04:57,864 --> 00:04:59,132 It includes sending Marines 72 00:04:59,166 --> 00:05:01,602 to take the small airfield at Peleliu, 73 00:05:01,635 --> 00:05:07,774 which could be a nuisance to the Army’s Philippines offensive. 74 00:05:07,808 --> 00:05:10,177 This isn’t lost on the troops, 75 00:05:10,210 --> 00:05:13,880 who dub themselves "MacArthur’s Marines." 76 00:05:16,683 --> 00:05:18,818 We were ordered to capture the airfield, 77 00:05:18,852 --> 00:05:24,291 and we started across at a trot in the searing heat. 78 00:05:24,324 --> 00:05:29,362 The ground rocked and swayed from shell concussions. 79 00:05:29,396 --> 00:05:36,336 And streams of machine-gun tracers streaked past our ears. 80 00:05:36,369 --> 00:05:39,739 Within hours, the wounded start piling up. 82 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,515 The Japanese are lobbing their repelling fire 83 00:05:48,548 --> 00:05:51,484 from this craggy jumble of peaks. 84 00:05:51,518 --> 00:05:55,956 The 1st Marines nickname it "Bloody Nose Ridge." 85 00:05:59,159 --> 00:06:01,194 One of the officers approaching the ridge 86 00:06:01,228 --> 00:06:04,164 is New Yorker George Haggerty. 87 00:06:10,070 --> 00:06:11,138 When my company went in 88 00:06:11,171 --> 00:06:17,377 we were 250 strong with six officers. 89 00:06:17,410 --> 00:06:19,045 A few days later I found my commander, 90 00:06:19,079 --> 00:06:23,517 and he said, "You and I are the only officers left. 91 00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:26,620 And we only have about 20 men." 92 00:06:26,653 --> 00:06:28,588 Down to a skeleton unit, 93 00:06:28,622 --> 00:06:31,291 the commander sends Haggerty and six others 94 00:06:31,324 --> 00:06:33,593 to find a hidden Japanese emplacement 95 00:06:33,627 --> 00:06:36,797 that already bloodied much of the company. 96 00:06:41,801 --> 00:06:42,969 He said, "When you get there, 97 00:06:43,003 --> 00:06:45,072 signal to me and we’ll come up." 99 00:06:51,111 --> 00:06:55,048 We crawled our way up the field. 101 00:06:58,818 --> 00:07:04,524 Some of the grenades we threw up, they threw back down at us. 102 00:07:08,828 --> 00:07:10,063 Haggerty gets close enough 103 00:07:10,096 --> 00:07:14,567 to signal his commander for reinforcements. 104 00:07:14,601 --> 00:07:17,471 We signaled and signaled, and nothing happened. 105 00:07:20,173 --> 00:07:22,308 Instead, our own armored LVTs came up 106 00:07:22,342 --> 00:07:24,945 and starting firing at us. 108 00:07:27,814 --> 00:07:32,952 They thought we were Japanese. 109 00:07:32,986 --> 00:07:35,355 Haggerty stumbles back with shrapnel wounds 110 00:07:35,388 --> 00:07:38,458 from enemy and friendly fire. 113 00:07:47,334 --> 00:07:48,969 I went back to look for my commander 114 00:07:49,002 --> 00:07:53,006 and ask him why he hadn’t brought the reinforcements. 115 00:07:53,039 --> 00:07:56,643 I found him with a little hole between his eyes 116 00:07:56,676 --> 00:08:00,313 and the whole back of his head blown off. 117 00:08:00,347 --> 00:08:04,251 That was the end of the war for my battalion. 118 00:08:04,284 --> 00:08:07,788 We didn’t have any more troops left. 119 00:08:13,026 --> 00:08:19,699 From the air, Peleliu looks like the moon. 120 00:08:19,733 --> 00:08:22,703 Underneath, there’s an old network of mining tunnels 121 00:08:22,736 --> 00:08:26,907 that the Japanese transform into a front unto itself. 122 00:08:28,241 --> 00:08:32,112 There never was a front line on Peleliu. 123 00:08:32,145 --> 00:08:36,149 The whole island was a front line. 124 00:08:36,182 --> 00:08:37,817 Japanese are everywhere, 125 00:08:37,851 --> 00:08:40,921 but nowhere to be seen. 126 00:08:40,954 --> 00:08:47,694 Americans end up shooting blindly into the ground. 127 00:08:47,727 --> 00:08:50,830 They think they win a hill, only to smell Japanese cooking 128 00:08:50,864 --> 00:08:54,267 wafting up from below ground. 129 00:08:57,771 --> 00:09:00,474 The subterranean maze is so confounding that 130 00:09:00,507 --> 00:09:05,178 the Americans resort to blasting shut any hole they see ... 131 00:09:05,211 --> 00:09:09,482 whether they think anyone’s inside or not. 132 00:09:12,552 --> 00:09:16,356 It takes two bloody weeks to secure the airfield, 133 00:09:16,389 --> 00:09:21,327 and they’re uncertain it was ever a real threat. 134 00:09:21,361 --> 00:09:23,330 The 1st Marines’ overall strength 135 00:09:23,363 --> 00:09:27,167 is down by nearly 60 percent. 136 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:31,104 MacArthur’s Marines are fading fast. 137 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:35,876 With Bloody Nose Ridge surrounded 138 00:09:35,909 --> 00:09:37,878 and the main airfield secure, 139 00:09:37,911 --> 00:09:40,113 Americans turn to the smaller airfield 140 00:09:40,146 --> 00:09:43,282 on the islet of Ngesebus. 141 00:09:46,086 --> 00:09:48,388 They don’t know what lies across the shallow reef 142 00:09:48,421 --> 00:09:55,061 dividing the islands. So they don’t tiptoe. 143 00:09:55,095 --> 00:09:57,998 They bring all the might they can muster. 145 00:10:11,611 --> 00:10:14,848 A textbook landing goes off without a problem. 146 00:10:14,881 --> 00:10:19,285 But -- there’s no payoff. 147 00:10:19,319 --> 00:10:21,788 The airfield is useless -- 148 00:10:21,821 --> 00:10:27,360 with unfinished runways made of soft sand. 149 00:10:27,393 --> 00:10:32,465 The battle for the rest of Peleliu will drag on. 150 00:10:32,499 --> 00:10:34,968 But with both airfields secure, 151 00:10:35,001 --> 00:10:39,105 the invasion of the Philippines is about to begin. 153 00:10:49,415 --> 00:10:52,351 Pre-dawn bombardment illuminates MacArthur 154 00:10:52,385 --> 00:10:55,755 on the day he’s been waiting for. 156 00:11:01,361 --> 00:11:05,732 The choreography of an invasion is now well-rehearsed. 157 00:11:05,765 --> 00:11:09,869 But each man knows the Philippines are different. 158 00:11:09,903 --> 00:11:12,005 The size of the islands. 159 00:11:12,038 --> 00:11:14,707 Sixteen million civilians. 160 00:11:14,741 --> 00:11:19,012 Thousands of Allied prisoners. 161 00:11:19,045 --> 00:11:21,514 And the half-million Japanese defenders 162 00:11:21,548 --> 00:11:24,351 waiting somewhere behind the veil of smoke 163 00:11:24,384 --> 00:11:28,455 now rising from the coast. 164 00:11:28,488 --> 00:11:31,858 Americans land first on Leyte, hoping to win it 165 00:11:31,891 --> 00:11:37,630 before invading Luzon and the capital of Manila. 166 00:11:37,664 --> 00:11:41,434 Unlike Peleliu, the beach is not heavily defended. 167 00:11:41,467 --> 00:11:45,604 By afternoon, MacArthur wades ashore. 168 00:11:45,638 --> 00:11:47,473 As the news cameras roll, 169 00:11:47,507 --> 00:11:53,079 he swaggers onto the sand without a helmet. 170 00:11:53,112 --> 00:11:55,114 There may be no combat on the beach, 171 00:11:55,148 --> 00:12:00,086 but there is some dark comedy. 172 00:12:00,119 --> 00:12:05,057 The scale of the invasion strains the supply chain. 173 00:12:05,091 --> 00:12:11,064 On the first day, 107,000 tons come ashore. 174 00:12:11,097 --> 00:12:14,767 But not in the right order. 175 00:12:14,801 --> 00:12:16,736 In the rush to unload, urgent supplies 176 00:12:16,769 --> 00:12:20,539 are buried under less important ones. 177 00:12:20,573 --> 00:12:24,544 And ... it’s the rainy season. 178 00:12:24,577 --> 00:12:27,213 Captain John Hanna takes home movies 179 00:12:27,247 --> 00:12:31,785 of the muck his unit has to navigate. 180 00:12:31,818 --> 00:12:39,626 It’s thick. Slick. And inescapable. 181 00:12:39,659 --> 00:12:45,131 Though the water buffalo don’t seem to mind. 182 00:12:45,164 --> 00:12:50,302 Back on his ship, Hanna films locals approaching in canoes. 183 00:12:50,336 --> 00:12:52,271 They’re looking for safe harbor in the shadows 184 00:12:52,305 --> 00:12:57,377 of American ships that now blanket Leyte Gulf. 185 00:12:57,410 --> 00:13:04,217 But so many ships in one place make an irresistible target. 186 00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:05,651 American carriers provide 187 00:13:05,685 --> 00:13:09,923 the only air support for the invasion. 188 00:13:09,956 --> 00:13:12,325 If Japan can disable this lifeline, 189 00:13:12,358 --> 00:13:16,195 they could isolate the Americans on land. 190 00:13:18,331 --> 00:13:22,035 The Imperial Japanese Navy decides to attack. 192 00:13:25,171 --> 00:13:28,341 American ships buzz to life. 193 00:13:31,010 --> 00:13:33,446 The Battle of Leyte Gulf 194 00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:38,351 will decide the future of the Philippines. 195 00:13:44,524 --> 00:13:49,462 Naval battles often boil down to pilot versus pilot. 196 00:13:57,036 --> 00:14:02,341 In the air, Americans continue to dominate. 198 00:14:09,515 --> 00:14:12,985 As Japanese fighters fall away, an American 199 00:14:13,019 --> 00:14:19,492 gets a clear shot at an enemy ship. He doesn’t miss. 200 00:14:22,395 --> 00:14:27,100 Out of desperation, Japan changes tactics. 201 00:14:29,202 --> 00:14:33,907 Their planes dive closer to American ships. 202 00:14:36,909 --> 00:14:40,045 Hidden in the smoke, this one punches through staccato 203 00:14:40,079 --> 00:14:46,719 anti-aircraft fire, flying lower than anyone expects. 204 00:14:49,922 --> 00:14:54,093 Navy man Charles Ripper is shocked at what he sees next. 205 00:14:55,261 --> 00:14:57,563 Coming towards us was a Japanese plane, 206 00:14:57,597 --> 00:15:02,302 just skimming over the water. We jumped for cover. 207 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:07,673 It lands a suicidal blow. 210 00:15:16,382 --> 00:15:19,252 These are the first organized kamikaze attacks 211 00:15:19,285 --> 00:15:27,093 of the Pacific War. They will not be the last. 212 00:15:27,126 --> 00:15:31,097 Over four days, America loses six warships, 213 00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:35,101 but Japan loses 26. 214 00:15:35,134 --> 00:15:40,172 The seas around the Philippines are now American waters. 215 00:15:40,206 --> 00:15:44,944 The ground war will be bloody, and Manila awaits. 216 00:15:44,977 --> 00:15:49,281 But only one side will have air and sea support. 217 00:15:49,315 --> 00:15:53,753 The other will slowly choke. 218 00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:56,689 Back on Peleliu, the 1st Marines 219 00:15:56,722 --> 00:16:01,260 have to finish what they started. 220 00:16:01,294 --> 00:16:04,130 They fire grenades with rifles. 221 00:16:06,432 --> 00:16:09,335 They throw Molotov cocktails. 222 00:16:11,971 --> 00:16:13,673 And they deploy a new weapon 223 00:16:13,706 --> 00:16:17,677 called the Navy Mark One Flamethrower. 224 00:16:19,645 --> 00:16:25,451 It shoots a blazing laser of napalm up to 150 yards. 225 00:16:28,688 --> 00:16:32,692 We were limited by not being able to use poison gas. 226 00:16:32,725 --> 00:16:36,862 Other than that, just about anything went. 227 00:16:40,166 --> 00:16:43,870 Americans also drop napalm from the air. 228 00:16:43,903 --> 00:16:50,209 It’s a new tactic getting its first big tryout on Peleliu. 229 00:16:50,243 --> 00:16:53,513 They hope to scorch Japanese they can’t see. 230 00:16:55,381 --> 00:16:59,151 They provide powerful fireworks, 231 00:16:59,185 --> 00:17:03,389 but they have little effect on deep Japanese positions. 232 00:17:07,693 --> 00:17:11,997 Killing the enemy from a distance isn’t working. 233 00:17:12,031 --> 00:17:15,468 It’s going to take close combat. 234 00:17:15,501 --> 00:17:17,703 As a private first class, 235 00:17:17,737 --> 00:17:21,507 your war lies within 15 feet of you. 236 00:17:21,541 --> 00:17:23,910 It’s kinda like Gettysburg. 237 00:17:23,943 --> 00:17:26,179 Fred Fox is an Army infantryman 238 00:17:26,212 --> 00:17:29,182 attached to the 1st Marines. 239 00:17:29,215 --> 00:17:31,884 His entire World War II combat career 240 00:17:31,918 --> 00:17:36,556 is 48 hours on Peleliu -- at age 18. 241 00:17:36,589 --> 00:17:39,358 I was only in one battle. 242 00:17:39,392 --> 00:17:42,862 But the two days that I fought at Peleliu... 243 00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:47,433 marked my life more than anything else. 244 00:17:47,466 --> 00:17:49,301 Here, a medical evacuation 245 00:17:49,335 --> 00:17:52,872 gets burned into memory. 247 00:17:58,277 --> 00:18:00,546 Three lie wounded. 248 00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:06,519 Enemy fire pins down two corpsmen just yards away. 249 00:18:06,552 --> 00:18:10,623 Five lives hang in the balance. 250 00:18:12,325 --> 00:18:16,596 A thousandth of a second, a hundredth of an inch, 251 00:18:16,629 --> 00:18:17,597 and that’s the difference 252 00:18:17,630 --> 00:18:21,868 between whether I was dead or not. 253 00:18:21,901 --> 00:18:26,305 The corpsmen struggle to carry the stretcher case. 254 00:18:26,339 --> 00:18:29,242 The other two combine whatever strength they have left 255 00:18:29,275 --> 00:18:32,111 to get themselves out. 256 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,416 The scene is repeated over and over, 257 00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:42,422 as the war plays out on the tiny stage of Peleliu. 258 00:18:42,455 --> 00:18:43,690 You’re talking about an island 259 00:18:43,723 --> 00:18:46,426 that’s about two miles wide, 260 00:18:46,459 --> 00:18:49,195 and you get maybe 11,000 Japanese 261 00:18:49,228 --> 00:18:54,433 and 28,000 Americans mad at each other? 262 00:18:54,467 --> 00:18:55,935 The 1st Marines are trapped 263 00:18:55,968 --> 00:18:57,837 on this cage of an island 264 00:18:57,870 --> 00:19:01,540 that seems determined to swallow them all. 265 00:19:01,574 --> 00:19:02,809 Some mention a premonition 266 00:19:02,842 --> 00:19:05,111 of when they’re gonna die. 267 00:19:05,144 --> 00:19:07,313 One sergeant in the tent with me, 268 00:19:07,346 --> 00:19:10,316 been through Guadalcanal and New Britain. 269 00:19:10,349 --> 00:19:14,220 On Peleliu he said, "I don’t want to go out there. 270 00:19:14,253 --> 00:19:17,423 I’m not gonna make this." 271 00:19:20,292 --> 00:19:23,128 And he didn’t. 272 00:19:25,031 --> 00:19:29,235 He didn’t make it two minutes. 273 00:19:35,074 --> 00:19:36,609 In their third year of war, 274 00:19:36,642 --> 00:19:38,811 and sixth week on Peleliu, 275 00:19:38,844 --> 00:19:43,515 the 1st Marines are in no mood to play by the rules. 276 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:44,884 We never took prisoners, 277 00:19:44,917 --> 00:19:48,053 even when some tried to give up. 278 00:19:49,422 --> 00:19:51,925 We routinely shot both dead 279 00:19:51,957 --> 00:19:56,862 and wounded in the head, to make sure they were dead. 281 00:20:00,399 --> 00:20:03,769 By the end of October, it’s still not over. 282 00:20:03,803 --> 00:20:07,173 But it is for the 1st Marines. 283 00:20:07,206 --> 00:20:12,011 Almost a third of their men are dead or wounded. 284 00:20:12,044 --> 00:20:13,879 MacArthur’s Marines load up 285 00:20:13,913 --> 00:20:17,717 and leave Peleliu for the Army to finish. 286 00:20:17,750 --> 00:20:20,720 It will take another month. 287 00:20:23,489 --> 00:20:26,225 Peleliu becomes one of the enduring question marks 288 00:20:26,258 --> 00:20:29,762 of the Pacific War. 289 00:20:29,795 --> 00:20:32,464 Eighteen hundred dead. 290 00:20:32,498 --> 00:20:35,301 Eight thousand wounded. 291 00:20:35,334 --> 00:20:37,236 All for some dusty airfields 292 00:20:37,269 --> 00:20:40,639 that may not have been a threat after all. 293 00:20:42,208 --> 00:20:46,279 All too many young Americans were sent to Peleliu, 294 00:20:46,312 --> 00:20:53,486 and into oblivion. Before they had ever really lived. 295 00:20:53,519 --> 00:20:55,187 In the march toward Japan, 296 00:20:55,221 --> 00:20:59,859 America seems lost in the Southwest Pacific. 297 00:21:01,026 --> 00:21:04,263 In the Central Pacific, the path is more clear -- 298 00:21:04,296 --> 00:21:05,998 island-hop toward Japan 299 00:21:06,031 --> 00:21:09,468 with daring and distant amphibious assaults. 300 00:21:09,502 --> 00:21:15,508 Americans have advanced as far as the Mariana Islands. 301 00:21:15,541 --> 00:21:19,979 Saipan, Guam and Tinian are all recently captured, 302 00:21:20,012 --> 00:21:23,415 and at the mercy of American machinery. 303 00:21:23,449 --> 00:21:28,120 They are paving the way for a brand new aircraft -- 304 00:21:28,154 --> 00:21:31,391 the B-29 Superfortress. 305 00:21:31,423 --> 00:21:34,192 But from the factory to the flight line, 306 00:21:34,226 --> 00:21:40,566 it’s plagued with problems. Deliveries are delayed. 307 00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:43,235 In Kansas, Raymond Halloran’s crew 308 00:21:43,269 --> 00:21:46,205 has been training on other aircraft instead. 309 00:21:47,373 --> 00:21:51,344 We had 11 people in our B-29 crew. 310 00:21:51,377 --> 00:21:55,014 They were from 11 different states. 311 00:21:55,047 --> 00:21:58,050 It was sort of Americana. 312 00:21:58,083 --> 00:22:04,189 The gunner was from Michigan, radarman from Oklahoma. 313 00:22:04,223 --> 00:22:07,560 You wonder where these kids are all coming from. 314 00:22:10,162 --> 00:22:12,698 One day, we came out to this ramp, 315 00:22:12,731 --> 00:22:18,070 and out there was a brand-new, silver B-29. 316 00:22:18,103 --> 00:22:21,406 What a beautiful thing! 317 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,743 That was going to be ours to take overseas. 318 00:22:24,777 --> 00:22:28,114 We were so excited. 319 00:22:30,182 --> 00:22:32,584 For the first time, they are flying untethered 320 00:22:32,618 --> 00:22:39,191 from a training script, unsupervised by superiors. 321 00:22:39,225 --> 00:22:42,962 Halloran is 21 years old. 322 00:22:45,297 --> 00:22:47,966 We were going alone. 323 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,136 It was crystal clear. 324 00:22:51,170 --> 00:22:56,709 We climbed to about 20,000 feet, moving west. 325 00:22:56,742 --> 00:23:01,113 They fly over the familiar landscape of home, 326 00:23:01,146 --> 00:23:04,983 heading toward a distant, abstract war, 327 00:23:05,017 --> 00:23:09,221 somewhere in the direction of the setting sun. 328 00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:15,227 There was very little said for a while. 329 00:23:17,162 --> 00:23:20,932 Then we got out over the Pacific. 330 00:23:20,966 --> 00:23:25,938 There wasn’t a sound in the plane -- nothing. 331 00:23:25,971 --> 00:23:29,107 Nobody said a thing. 332 00:23:29,141 --> 00:23:34,480 I had a definite feeling that I’m leaving everything behind -- 333 00:23:34,513 --> 00:23:40,886 my mother and father, and my training -- 334 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,424 and I am going into combat. 335 00:23:44,456 --> 00:23:50,595 I think on that evening, at that time, at that altitude, 336 00:23:50,629 --> 00:23:55,534 I converted from youth to manhood. 337 00:23:55,567 --> 00:23:59,671 I could do the job of a man. 338 00:24:03,909 --> 00:24:05,644 Also on the way to the Marianas 339 00:24:05,678 --> 00:24:08,247 is General Curtis LeMay. 340 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,582 These are his home movies from the war, 341 00:24:10,616 --> 00:24:14,453 which have never been broadcast before. 342 00:24:14,486 --> 00:24:16,922 He’s arriving from India, where his bombing group 343 00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:21,194 had trouble striking Japan from such a distance. 344 00:24:21,226 --> 00:24:25,163 He hopes the Marianas will change the B-29 equation -- 345 00:24:25,197 --> 00:24:28,634 if he can whip his men into shape. 346 00:24:28,667 --> 00:24:30,769 We had crews that weren’t trained, 347 00:24:30,803 --> 00:24:33,372 and we had outfits that weren’t organized. 348 00:24:33,405 --> 00:24:35,774 Everything was wrong. 349 00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:38,511 As he comes in for a landing at his new headquarters, 350 00:24:38,544 --> 00:24:43,783 LeMay’s reputation is already circulating on the ground. 351 00:24:43,816 --> 00:24:46,052 We called him "Old Iron Pants" 352 00:24:46,085 --> 00:24:48,187 because he was a tough cookie. 353 00:24:48,220 --> 00:24:53,559 He was the George Patton of the Air Force. 354 00:24:53,592 --> 00:24:58,497 In the winter of 1944, hundreds of brand new B-29s 355 00:24:58,530 --> 00:25:00,599 begin streaming into the Marianas 356 00:25:00,632 --> 00:25:04,369 like giant migratory birds. 357 00:25:04,403 --> 00:25:07,473 We had just six weeks to move the B-29s 358 00:25:07,506 --> 00:25:10,509 to bases in the Marianas, 359 00:25:10,542 --> 00:25:12,644 fly a few shakedown flights, 360 00:25:12,678 --> 00:25:16,115 and launch an operation. 361 00:25:16,148 --> 00:25:18,150 American air power is building up 362 00:25:18,183 --> 00:25:21,720 like a storm cloud in the Central Pacific. 363 00:25:21,754 --> 00:25:27,260 Japan can only guess when it will thunder overhead. 364 00:25:30,295 --> 00:25:32,430 Japan is rattled. 365 00:25:32,464 --> 00:25:36,568 Americans are encroaching dangerously close. 366 00:25:39,104 --> 00:25:41,740 A Japanese film shows a geography lesson 367 00:25:41,774 --> 00:25:45,211 turning into a dire warning. 368 00:25:45,244 --> 00:25:47,413 The teacher pinpoints the Marianas 369 00:25:47,446 --> 00:25:54,053 and draws an arc that includes Tokyo. 370 00:25:54,086 --> 00:25:58,657 Air raid drills signal a tense new reality. 371 00:26:02,428 --> 00:26:03,863 In public, one admiral 372 00:26:03,896 --> 00:26:07,933 describes the defeat in measured language. 373 00:26:10,436 --> 00:26:13,673 Our garrison on Saipan fought bravely. 374 00:26:13,705 --> 00:26:18,243 All of them died a heroic death. 375 00:26:18,277 --> 00:26:20,946 In private, another admiral is more blunt, 376 00:26:20,979 --> 00:26:26,685 saying simply: "Hell is upon us." 377 00:26:26,718 --> 00:26:27,852 Bombs are wheeled up 378 00:26:27,886 --> 00:26:31,523 to a B-29 Superfortress on Saipan Island. 379 00:26:31,557 --> 00:26:33,059 It is only the beginning 380 00:26:33,092 --> 00:26:36,596 as these mighty bombers prepare for the first raid on Tokyo 381 00:26:36,628 --> 00:26:39,764 in two and a half years. 382 00:26:39,798 --> 00:26:44,102 American newsreels paint the B-29 as a savior. 383 00:26:44,136 --> 00:26:46,405 But it can barely soar. 385 00:26:48,974 --> 00:26:52,978 They labor to take off with 10,000 pounds of bombs. 386 00:26:53,011 --> 00:26:56,381 This one almost runs off the runway. 387 00:26:58,016 --> 00:27:00,785 When they picked up that B-29, 388 00:27:00,819 --> 00:27:03,822 you could almost see it screaming. 389 00:27:07,493 --> 00:27:13,399 In January of 1945, B-29s begin raids on Japan. 390 00:27:13,432 --> 00:27:16,068 The entire rationale for island hopping 391 00:27:16,101 --> 00:27:19,805 will now be put to the test. 392 00:27:19,838 --> 00:27:22,908 En route, crews review their targets ... 393 00:27:22,941 --> 00:27:26,011 what little they know about them. 394 00:27:26,044 --> 00:27:30,448 We didn’t really know anything about Japan. 395 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:32,150 We didn’t have any secret agents 396 00:27:32,184 --> 00:27:36,822 creeping around sending us information. 397 00:27:36,855 --> 00:27:41,793 But an even bigger problem looms at 25,000 feet -- 398 00:27:41,827 --> 00:27:43,996 a roaring tailwind. 399 00:27:44,029 --> 00:27:46,164 We were scooting across Tokyo 400 00:27:46,198 --> 00:27:50,235 at 500 miles an hour. 401 00:27:50,269 --> 00:27:52,705 Bombs drop into this lashing wind -- 402 00:27:52,738 --> 00:27:55,808 and scatter like feathers. 403 00:27:55,841 --> 00:27:57,710 We not only missed the target -- 404 00:27:57,743 --> 00:28:01,013 I’m not even sure we hit Tokyo. 405 00:28:03,182 --> 00:28:08,187 Americans try flying the missions into the wind. 406 00:28:08,220 --> 00:28:09,988 One plane tried that one day 407 00:28:10,022 --> 00:28:11,156 and they found out they were going 408 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:14,393 three miles an hour backwards. 409 00:28:15,928 --> 00:28:17,730 The B-29 was built to bomb 410 00:28:17,763 --> 00:28:21,367 from the safety of high altitude. 411 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,035 No one imagined its payload 412 00:28:23,068 --> 00:28:26,705 splashing harmlessly into the sea. 413 00:28:26,738 --> 00:28:28,873 Heading back to Saipan, 414 00:28:28,907 --> 00:28:33,912 the first Superfortress mission over Tokyo is a success. 415 00:28:33,946 --> 00:28:38,250 Curt LeMay knows it really isn’t. 416 00:28:38,283 --> 00:28:40,252 The B-29 still isn’t landing 417 00:28:40,285 --> 00:28:44,389 the knockout punch it was made for. 418 00:28:44,423 --> 00:28:50,429 In Guam, this one doesn’t even make it off the runway. 419 00:28:50,462 --> 00:28:53,265 General LeMay films the wreckage himself, 420 00:28:53,298 --> 00:28:57,402 and he can feel the heat -- in every way. 421 00:28:57,436 --> 00:29:02,074 They said if you don’t get results, you’ll be fired. 422 00:29:02,107 --> 00:29:03,809 If you don’t get results, 423 00:29:03,842 --> 00:29:08,313 it’ll mean a mass amphibious invasion of Japan. 424 00:29:08,347 --> 00:29:10,149 One way to improve results 425 00:29:10,182 --> 00:29:15,054 is to keep more B-29s from crashing along the way. 426 00:29:15,087 --> 00:29:18,691 Americans look for a place to land a broken B-29 427 00:29:18,724 --> 00:29:21,860 between the Marianas and Japan. 428 00:29:21,893 --> 00:29:26,331 There’s only one choice. Iwo Jima. 429 00:29:33,805 --> 00:29:36,741 Raymond Halloran’s crew, fresh from Kansas, 430 00:29:36,775 --> 00:29:39,645 gets its very first combat orders. 431 00:29:45,951 --> 00:29:48,387 The mission was to go to Iwo Jima, 432 00:29:48,420 --> 00:29:52,958 650 miles away, to bomb the runway. 433 00:29:52,991 --> 00:29:54,826 By now, the Army Air Force 434 00:29:54,860 --> 00:30:00,432 is trying to prove the value of the B-29 any way it can. 435 00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:01,933 The Air Force wanted to come in 436 00:30:01,967 --> 00:30:04,770 and saturate every square inch of Iwo Jima, 437 00:30:04,803 --> 00:30:06,838 because there were no civilians. 438 00:30:06,872 --> 00:30:09,475 Then all we’d have to do is walk on the beach, 439 00:30:09,508 --> 00:30:13,612 put up the flag, and bury dead Japanese. 440 00:30:13,645 --> 00:30:16,548 From above, the island looks lifeless. 441 00:30:16,581 --> 00:30:19,818 Halloran quickly finds out otherwise. 442 00:30:22,154 --> 00:30:25,858 They opened up with anti-aircraft fire. 443 00:30:25,891 --> 00:30:27,793 Japanese footage reveals guns 444 00:30:27,826 --> 00:30:31,330 aiming straight up at the incoming bombers. 445 00:30:34,099 --> 00:30:35,167 I didn’t know they were 446 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,869 going to be shooting at us. 447 00:30:37,903 --> 00:30:41,774 We had a few little holes in our plane when we came back. 448 00:30:41,807 --> 00:30:48,781 How proud we were of that. It proved we were in combat. 449 00:30:48,814 --> 00:30:49,882 Halloran’s crew 450 00:30:49,915 --> 00:30:52,718 gets a little nicked up over Iwo Jima. 451 00:30:52,751 --> 00:30:56,922 Americans hope the ground invasion is just as harmless. 452 00:31:04,463 --> 00:31:06,532 For centuries, Mount Suribachi 453 00:31:06,565 --> 00:31:11,737 crowned a barren island of little value. 454 00:31:11,770 --> 00:31:17,209 But in 1945, two armies want it badly. 455 00:31:17,242 --> 00:31:23,215 Japan is using it to attack B-29s passing overhead. 456 00:31:23,248 --> 00:31:28,420 America sees it as an emergency landing strip. 457 00:31:28,453 --> 00:31:31,623 They will both now use it as a slaughterhouse. 459 00:31:35,293 --> 00:31:38,263 I went topside just about the time we were leaving, 460 00:31:38,296 --> 00:31:40,231 and I saw that rock. 461 00:31:40,265 --> 00:31:42,901 It was the most desolate looking piece of real estate 462 00:31:42,934 --> 00:31:46,971 I ever saw in my life. 463 00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:52,343 As landing craft circle waiting for the signal, 464 00:31:52,377 --> 00:31:56,448 Americans fear the enemy will fight back with fire -- 465 00:31:56,481 --> 00:32:00,452 and explode barrel bombs of fuel on the beach. 466 00:32:00,485 --> 00:32:03,688 Marines smear their faces with white anti-flash cream 467 00:32:03,722 --> 00:32:06,191 to guard against burns. 469 00:32:10,028 --> 00:32:16,601 At 9:02 a.m., the first wave hits the sand. 470 00:32:16,635 --> 00:32:20,305 Everybody out. Move, move, move. 471 00:32:20,338 --> 00:32:24,175 The beach is steep and loose. 472 00:32:24,209 --> 00:32:28,480 They struggle in the fine volcanic ash. 473 00:32:28,513 --> 00:32:31,249 But resistance is light. 474 00:32:31,283 --> 00:32:35,687 There are no barrel bombs of fuel. 475 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,855 But as more waves come ashore, 476 00:32:37,889 --> 00:32:41,626 more men and machines get stuck in the sand. 477 00:32:43,195 --> 00:32:45,831 You were walking in mush almost up to your knees. 478 00:32:45,864 --> 00:32:48,700 It was a struggle. 479 00:32:48,733 --> 00:32:53,071 Soon, the crowd on the beach reaches critical mass. 480 00:32:53,104 --> 00:32:56,040 That’s when the Japanese open up. 482 00:33:05,784 --> 00:33:07,753 I could look up from my foxhole 483 00:33:07,786 --> 00:33:14,760 and it was just 20, 30 mortars in the air at a time. 484 00:33:14,793 --> 00:33:16,795 By 9:20 a.m., 485 00:33:16,828 --> 00:33:21,666 it’s an unceasing, ear-splitting barrage. 486 00:33:24,736 --> 00:33:27,839 No Japanese are on the beach itself. 487 00:33:27,873 --> 00:33:31,643 Most are entrenched on Mount Suribachi. 488 00:33:31,676 --> 00:33:36,014 Inside the mountain is a maze of tunnels and monster pillboxes 489 00:33:36,047 --> 00:33:39,183 with walls up to four feet thick. 490 00:33:39,217 --> 00:33:43,655 The Japanese can pummel the entire beach with lead. 491 00:33:43,688 --> 00:33:47,425 Marines are trapped within yards of where they landed. 492 00:33:47,459 --> 00:33:50,762 There’s no place to go except down. 493 00:33:50,795 --> 00:33:52,597 We decided we’d clean out a shell hole 494 00:33:52,631 --> 00:33:55,267 and make it a little deeper for a shelter. 495 00:33:55,300 --> 00:33:58,403 And we hit something down there. 496 00:33:58,436 --> 00:34:03,841 When we uncovered it, it was a Marine. 497 00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:05,844 Bodies are buried ... 498 00:34:05,877 --> 00:34:07,379 trapped ... 499 00:34:07,412 --> 00:34:09,814 and torn apart. 500 00:34:09,848 --> 00:34:12,651 Suribachi is like a hunting stand, 501 00:34:12,684 --> 00:34:16,087 and Americans are easy prey. 502 00:34:17,422 --> 00:34:20,258 The barrage continues into the night. 503 00:34:21,927 --> 00:34:24,029 Here, the Japanese score a hit 504 00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:27,566 on an American ammo dump on the beach. 506 00:34:32,337 --> 00:34:34,539 It was bullets and all kinds of ammunition 507 00:34:34,573 --> 00:34:36,475 exploding all around. 508 00:34:36,508 --> 00:34:39,144 It was like Chinese fireworks. 509 00:34:39,177 --> 00:34:41,246 The first day on Iwo Jima ends 510 00:34:41,279 --> 00:34:45,984 with the beach on fire and supplies going up in smoke. 511 00:34:46,017 --> 00:34:49,454 Americans resolve to turn the tide the next day -- 512 00:34:49,487 --> 00:34:53,024 by scaling Suribachi. 513 00:34:59,664 --> 00:35:01,799 The assault on Mount Suribachi begins 514 00:35:01,833 --> 00:35:05,503 by punching it from the air and sea. 515 00:35:08,940 --> 00:35:14,012 Americans make the dormant volcano seem alive again. 516 00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:24,389 Then, Marines start to climb up. 517 00:35:24,422 --> 00:35:27,825 Soon, blood starts to flow down. 519 00:35:32,998 --> 00:35:37,970 One unit supported by tanks pushes up for six hours, 520 00:35:38,003 --> 00:35:46,144 advances only 200 yards, and tallies 162 dead and wounded. 521 00:35:46,177 --> 00:35:50,214 As usual, Americans rarely see the Japanese. 522 00:35:50,248 --> 00:35:53,318 So they pour fire into every hole. 524 00:36:11,636 --> 00:36:14,339 After four days of relentless fighting, 525 00:36:14,372 --> 00:36:17,942 a handful of Marines get to the top. 526 00:36:17,976 --> 00:36:24,449 They plant a small flag tied to some old Japanese pipe. 527 00:36:24,482 --> 00:36:29,821 A few hours later, a larger flag goes up. 528 00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:32,957 Gilberto Mendez can see it from his troop ship, 529 00:36:32,991 --> 00:36:36,328 and his emotions go into overdrive. 530 00:36:36,361 --> 00:36:40,165 He’s about to come ashore to join the fight. 531 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:43,268 My heart was beating a thousand times a minute. 532 00:36:43,301 --> 00:36:46,171 My skin was like chicken skin. 533 00:36:46,204 --> 00:36:47,739 I lost my fear. 534 00:36:47,772 --> 00:36:50,875 If those guys made it, I could. 535 00:36:50,909 --> 00:36:52,944 But it was false, that feeling, 536 00:36:52,977 --> 00:36:57,048 because the good stuff hadn’t started yet. 537 00:37:02,053 --> 00:37:05,490 This is home movie footage of pre-war Manila. 538 00:37:05,523 --> 00:37:08,393 As the capital of a U.S. territory, 539 00:37:08,426 --> 00:37:10,995 it’s infused with American style -- 540 00:37:11,029 --> 00:37:13,431 from western clothes ... 541 00:37:13,465 --> 00:37:15,500 to neon glitz. 543 00:37:19,571 --> 00:37:20,772 But when the Allies return 544 00:37:20,805 --> 00:37:23,374 to wrestle it back from the Japanese, 545 00:37:23,408 --> 00:37:26,244 it’s a different city. 546 00:37:28,747 --> 00:37:33,752 Now ashen and hollow, it’s the bombed-out backdrop 547 00:37:33,785 --> 00:37:37,689 for the biggest urban battle of the Pacific War. 548 00:37:37,722 --> 00:37:43,761 [explosions and artillery fire] 549 00:37:43,795 --> 00:37:48,466 MacArthur prohibits air strikes, trying to spare civilians. 550 00:37:52,137 --> 00:37:57,209 It takes street-by-street guerrilla warfare. 551 00:38:02,447 --> 00:38:07,519 American tanks roll into the University of the Philippines. 552 00:38:07,552 --> 00:38:10,021 The campus is under siege. 553 00:38:10,054 --> 00:38:14,692 Here, University Hall becomes a gun nest. 554 00:38:14,726 --> 00:38:18,463 Japanese rifles crack from the top floor. 556 00:38:21,032 --> 00:38:27,672 Allies fire back, taking chunks out of the colonial facade. 557 00:38:34,679 --> 00:38:38,650 The Pacific War is turning Manila to dust. 558 00:38:42,020 --> 00:38:45,490 Finally, the city goes quiet. 560 00:38:59,204 --> 00:39:02,674 Civilians are in survival mode. 561 00:39:09,948 --> 00:39:13,585 American POWs enjoy their first taste of freedom 562 00:39:13,618 --> 00:39:17,689 in more than two years. 563 00:39:20,658 --> 00:39:24,328 Kneeling over this body is serviceman Dan Rocklin. 564 00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:28,566 He films the horrors that now litter Manila. 565 00:39:36,574 --> 00:39:42,747 But he also captures Filipinos striving for normalcy. 566 00:39:42,780 --> 00:39:48,719 Rocklin’s film has never been broadcast before. 567 00:39:48,753 --> 00:39:53,391 His footage reveals a blossoming hope -- 568 00:39:53,424 --> 00:39:58,930 that the storm of war may finally be passing. 569 00:40:01,165 --> 00:40:04,935 Almost a week into the battle for Iwo Jima ... 570 00:40:04,969 --> 00:40:09,941 ... fresh troops come ashore to reinforce depleted units. 571 00:40:09,974 --> 00:40:13,277 As replacements, we were a nobody group. 572 00:40:13,311 --> 00:40:17,782 We went wherever we were needed. I didn’t know anybody. 573 00:40:17,815 --> 00:40:20,785 But Gilberto Mendez gets to know Iwo Jima 574 00:40:20,818 --> 00:40:23,087 in a hurry. 575 00:40:23,121 --> 00:40:24,823 The first days I was on the ground, 576 00:40:24,856 --> 00:40:28,727 I urinated in my pants because I thought 577 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:33,698 if I dropped my rifle to pee I would be killed. 578 00:40:33,731 --> 00:40:36,334 The flag already flying on Mount Suribachi 579 00:40:36,367 --> 00:40:39,337 is the enduring symbol of Iwo Jima. 580 00:40:39,370 --> 00:40:43,441 But the north is the where Marines have to win it. 581 00:40:43,474 --> 00:40:44,875 The Japanese have abandoned 582 00:40:44,909 --> 00:40:49,514 Banzai charges and costly counterattacks. 583 00:40:49,547 --> 00:40:53,551 Now they simply wait to ambush advancing Americans. 585 00:40:56,421 --> 00:40:59,491 Including Gilberto Mendez. 586 00:41:00,658 --> 00:41:02,593 I saw something shine. 587 00:41:02,627 --> 00:41:05,196 It was a Japanese officer’s sword, 588 00:41:05,229 --> 00:41:08,833 and he was leading his men out of a cave. 589 00:41:08,866 --> 00:41:11,202 The bullets were flying. 591 00:41:14,138 --> 00:41:17,775 When I saw below his neck, I pulled the trigger, 592 00:41:17,809 --> 00:41:20,879 one shot after another. 593 00:41:20,912 --> 00:41:24,182 They found thirteen holes in his body. 594 00:41:24,215 --> 00:41:28,519 I made hamburger out of him. 595 00:41:28,553 --> 00:41:33,124 More and more bodies litter the volcanic landscape. 596 00:41:33,157 --> 00:41:37,995 In Japanese, Iwo Jima means "sulfur island." 597 00:41:38,029 --> 00:41:42,333 The steam smells like rotten eggs. 598 00:41:42,367 --> 00:41:46,438 Freshly dug foxholes are too hot to get into. 599 00:41:46,471 --> 00:41:49,607 You couldn’t stay 15 minutes in one place 600 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,009 because your boots would get too hot. 601 00:41:52,043 --> 00:41:54,078 One Marine even tries on the boots 602 00:41:54,112 --> 00:41:56,381 of a dead Japanese soldier, 603 00:41:56,414 --> 00:42:00,351 hoping they might keep his feet from burning. 604 00:42:00,385 --> 00:42:01,887 Combat is close. 606 00:42:04,255 --> 00:42:07,091 Fiery. 607 00:42:08,526 --> 00:42:11,362 And exhausting. 608 00:42:14,899 --> 00:42:16,734 Two weeks into the battle, 609 00:42:16,768 --> 00:42:21,940 nearly 10,000 American wounded have been evacuated. 610 00:42:21,973 --> 00:42:25,977 Including Gilberto Mendez, with a head injury. 611 00:42:29,213 --> 00:42:30,781 An explosion picked me up 612 00:42:30,815 --> 00:42:37,055 and I hit the ground again, with a terrible ringing in my ear. 613 00:42:37,088 --> 00:42:39,524 I was choking on my own tongue. 614 00:42:39,557 --> 00:42:41,692 A corpsman tried to pull my tongue out 615 00:42:41,726 --> 00:42:46,931 by piercing it with a big safety pin. 616 00:42:46,964 --> 00:42:49,767 Under tents and inside hospital ships, 617 00:42:49,801 --> 00:42:54,372 doctors and nurses tend to injuries beyond description. 618 00:42:58,276 --> 00:43:01,513 And some beyond repair. 619 00:43:04,148 --> 00:43:09,220 But soon, the reason for all this carnage comes into view. 621 00:43:12,990 --> 00:43:15,426 Those planes were coming back shot full of holes, 622 00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:18,697 and tore all to pieces. 623 00:43:18,729 --> 00:43:21,098 On March 4th, the first B-29 624 00:43:21,132 --> 00:43:25,136 comes in for a forced landing. 625 00:43:25,169 --> 00:43:30,007 Hundreds more will sputter into Iwo Jima from raids in Japan. 626 00:43:30,041 --> 00:43:33,645 This one is so crippled it can’t even make the runway. 627 00:43:38,816 --> 00:43:42,353 But the crew will be spared. 628 00:43:43,955 --> 00:43:46,424 Even with Iwo Jima as a life raft, 629 00:43:46,457 --> 00:43:50,962 B-29 raids into Japan are failing. 630 00:43:50,995 --> 00:43:54,832 The overall game plan still isn’t working. 631 00:43:54,866 --> 00:43:59,237 So Curtis LeMay changes the rules. 632 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,342 We weren’t going to be able to defeat Japan 633 00:44:05,376 --> 00:44:08,613 using high altitude precision bombing. 634 00:44:08,646 --> 00:44:12,350 I had to do something radical. 635 00:44:12,383 --> 00:44:14,518 The entire premise of island hopping 636 00:44:14,552 --> 00:44:17,755 now rests on Curt LeMay’s command. 637 00:44:17,788 --> 00:44:22,026 So he designs a drastically different kind of mission. 638 00:44:22,059 --> 00:44:25,763 David Braden remembers the briefing. 639 00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:28,799 We were going to fly in at 5,000 feet -- 640 00:44:28,833 --> 00:44:32,704 a surprise attack, probably around midnight. 641 00:44:32,737 --> 00:44:35,473 LeMay thinks going in low will solve the problem 642 00:44:35,506 --> 00:44:38,809 of high winds and blinding clouds. 643 00:44:38,843 --> 00:44:42,880 But that’s not the only change. 644 00:44:42,914 --> 00:44:47,986 We were to carry 10 tons of incendiary bombs. 645 00:44:48,019 --> 00:44:50,355 Until now, America’s use of napalm 646 00:44:50,388 --> 00:44:56,861 has been specific to a target -- a cave, or a jungle hideout. 647 00:44:56,894 --> 00:45:00,131 Now, LeMay has something bigger in mind. 648 00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:05,169 Tokyo would be our target. 649 00:45:05,203 --> 00:45:07,205 The primary target. 650 00:45:07,238 --> 00:45:09,674 The secondary target. 651 00:45:09,707 --> 00:45:13,344 And the only target. 652 00:45:21,118 --> 00:45:23,854 Three hundred and twenty-five B-29s 653 00:45:23,888 --> 00:45:27,525 take off in the afternoon skies -- 654 00:45:27,558 --> 00:45:33,230 double the number ever used in a single raid before. 655 00:45:41,105 --> 00:45:46,811 They fly in groups, at night, lights off. 656 00:45:46,844 --> 00:45:52,717 Flying in low, the big slow planes could be easy targets. 657 00:45:52,750 --> 00:45:57,221 Crews fear they’re on a suicide mission. 658 00:45:57,255 --> 00:45:58,423 We were saying, 659 00:45:58,456 --> 00:46:00,625 "We are going to be the American kamikazes 660 00:46:00,658 --> 00:46:04,395 and they are going to shoot us down like crazy." 661 00:46:05,930 --> 00:46:11,035 Then, Tokyo appears below. 662 00:46:13,838 --> 00:46:17,608 The first of more than three million pounds of firebombs 663 00:46:17,642 --> 00:46:20,745 drop into the night. 664 00:46:24,749 --> 00:46:27,151 A firestorm started. 665 00:46:27,184 --> 00:46:29,219 The updrafts from the heat of the fires 666 00:46:29,253 --> 00:46:32,690 threw the airplanes all over the sky. 667 00:46:37,695 --> 00:46:39,163 It was frightening. 668 00:46:39,196 --> 00:46:41,498 There’d be an aircraft right next to you 669 00:46:41,532 --> 00:46:45,369 and you didn’t even know the guy was there. 670 00:46:46,404 --> 00:46:49,440 The air is swirling with ashes, 671 00:46:49,473 --> 00:46:55,079 and crews can smell burning flesh at 5,000 feet. 672 00:46:56,147 --> 00:46:59,150 The firestorm consumed so much oxygen 673 00:46:59,183 --> 00:47:05,956 that those who did not die by the flames simply suffocated. 674 00:47:08,859 --> 00:47:14,264 The next morning, Japan is in shock. 676 00:47:17,034 --> 00:47:19,103 It was as though Tokyo had dropped 677 00:47:19,136 --> 00:47:26,377 through the floor of the world and into the mouth of hell. 678 00:47:27,912 --> 00:47:34,185 Sixteen square miles of central Tokyo are in ashes. 679 00:47:35,553 --> 00:47:41,392 An estimated 100,000 are killed -- mostly civilians. 680 00:47:43,994 --> 00:47:48,098 It’s the single deadliest day of the Pacific War. 681 00:47:48,132 --> 00:47:54,205 Neither atomic bomb will kill this many on the day it drops. 682 00:47:56,040 --> 00:48:01,746 To LeMay, it’s an unqualified success. 683 00:48:01,779 --> 00:48:05,216 He draws up plans to firebomb other cities, 684 00:48:05,249 --> 00:48:07,818 bring Japan to its knees, 685 00:48:07,852 --> 00:48:10,321 and force surrender. 686 00:48:12,356 --> 00:48:14,859 We had stockpiled enough incendiaries 687 00:48:14,892 --> 00:48:16,560 to follow the Tokyo raid 688 00:48:16,594 --> 00:48:22,033 with just about all the major urban areas in Japan. 689 00:48:23,300 --> 00:48:27,738 For LeMay, the fire is only starting. 690 00:48:32,777 --> 00:48:34,545 By late March, Iwo Jima 691 00:48:34,578 --> 00:48:39,583 is finally under American control. 692 00:48:39,617 --> 00:48:42,920 Supplies drop down that will help turn this arid rock 693 00:48:42,953 --> 00:48:47,925 into a full-fledged military base. 695 00:48:49,427 --> 00:48:52,363 Japanese troops will keep pouring out of this underworld 696 00:48:52,396 --> 00:48:55,833 for months. 697 00:48:55,866 --> 00:49:00,304 They too are exhausted, but unwilling to quit. 699 00:49:02,907 --> 00:49:05,343 Here, Americans liberate Koreans 700 00:49:05,376 --> 00:49:08,579 who had been toiling at Japanese gunpoint. 701 00:49:19,890 --> 00:49:24,728 They report Japanese are still inside, and won’t surrender. 702 00:49:25,796 --> 00:49:28,732 Once all the Koreans are out, 703 00:49:28,766 --> 00:49:32,236 a demolition team seals the cave shut. 705 00:49:37,041 --> 00:49:41,245 Iwo Jima is now an island of tombs. 706 00:49:41,278 --> 00:49:47,651 Some 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 Americans are dead. 707 00:49:47,685 --> 00:49:48,953 We were told the whole operation 708 00:49:48,986 --> 00:49:51,188 would take only three to four days. 709 00:49:51,222 --> 00:49:57,829 It turned out to be 36 days of pure hell. 711 00:50:00,664 --> 00:50:04,868 Japan can sense the pressure coming from all fronts. 712 00:50:04,902 --> 00:50:07,738 Ships from the sea. 713 00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:11,842 Boots on the ground. 714 00:50:13,511 --> 00:50:16,748 And fire from the sky. 715 00:50:20,518 --> 00:50:24,389 The Japanese Empire is on the verge of collapse, 716 00:50:24,421 --> 00:50:28,859 but there is no sign of surrender. 717 00:50:28,893 --> 00:50:31,362 Americans have one more island to take 718 00:50:31,395 --> 00:50:37,268 before invading Japan itself. 719 00:50:37,301 --> 00:50:41,806 Survivors of Peleliu and Iwo Jima are on their way -- 720 00:50:41,839 --> 00:50:45,443 to Okinawa. 721 00:50:45,476 --> 00:50:49,914 Don’t ask them which one is worse. 722 00:50:49,947 --> 00:50:52,082 I can’t answer that. 723 00:50:52,116 --> 00:50:57,154 How do you compare hell to hell? 53751

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