Battle of Iwo Jima - Complete Animated Documentary

Due to popular request, we are re-releasing our entire Iwo Jima series as one complete animated documentary!

US Marines storm the beaches of Iwo Jima after a short naval barrage, predicting a simple victory. The black volcanic island is a territory of Japan itself and so, unbeknownst to the Americans, has been heavily fortified, and will be defended to the last man.

[TheOperationsRoom]

Due to popular request, we are re-releasing our entire Iwo Jima series as one complete animated documentary!

[allegedkurd]

My piano teacher growing up was on Iwo Jima with the 24th Marine regiment as a flamethrower operator. He never mentioned anything about the Battle besides anecdotes about trading his cigarettes for chocolate bars, because he didn't smoke, or playing a pedal-powered pipe organ for church services, but I later found out that his entire platoon, barring him and his platoon Commander, was wiped out, and he temporarily lost use of his hand due to shrapnel from a mortar. Passed away peacefully from old age few years back. Frank Matthews. Fair Winds and following Seas.

[HagsRideOrDie]

My best friends grandfather kept the sword he was stabbed with while in his bunker on Iwo Jima. The Japanese soldier stabbed him through the sandbags and then made the mistake of jumping over the bunker to finish him off only to find himself facing a 6' 2" Iowa farm boy who was only slightly wounded. He never told us the rest of the story but he brought the sword home.

[vasaaviarion]

I'm fairly certain if I took part in this battle I would have died without doing anything productive. The bravery of these men gives me chills

[bodypilot]

I've been on Iwo Jima and the beach sand was like walking up marbles, Sarabachi was steep as hell, we attempted to climb the north east side from the supply beach until we linked up with the paved access road. The tunnel entrances are mostly still wide open and the sunken supply ships still sticking out of the surf. It's essentially locked in time. It was eye opening to see it largely untouched. Absolutely balsy fighting by my fellow marines! Semper fi

[LittleMacscorner]

My Grandad was wounded on Iwo jima. As a kid he told me about the battle. It is fascinating seeing it told again with visuals. Thank you.

[johnej]

John Basilone is the most badass soldier I’ve ever seen, his men must’ve felt like he was a superhero when they followed him into battle. When he got killed I can’t even imagine how that must’ve affected the morale of the troops behind him.. for them to keep fighting shows why these guys were the greatest generation

[SerRompalot]

Jesus, seeing it animated like this really sets in how horrendous the battle was, along with the commentary. Kuribayashi really did a number in this battle, coming at it from a realist perspective the entire time.

[garicrewsen]

My grandfather was a stretcher-bearer (corpsman) on Iwo Jima. While carrying one of the many wounded, a shell exploded next to him. He received minor shrapnel wounds and shortly after that, a purple heart. He lived to tell the tale of Iwo Jima, yet never uttered a word about it. He was one of the kindest men I've ever known. His soft spoken nature belied his 6'3"frame. Both those features landed him the corpsman designation. The shell shock (PTSD) he came away with, according to Mom, his daughter, affected him deeply, but I never saw evidence of that. He was a damn tough Marine, and damn proud of it, just quietly. He was a man of God who loved his family and his country, and I never knew what took place on Iwo Jima, the odds he faced, until today as I viewed this video. Now I know why he was so reluctant to share his experience and I have even greater respect and admiration for him and how he lived the rest of his life. Publishing this video, you did him and all the troops there a great honor and educated me in the process. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. God bless you and God bless America. ❤

[duderseb]

Few things make me as happy as an Ops Room upload, even if I have seen these multiple times before. Super congratulations on nearly reaching 1M subs, y'all deserve every one!

[robertreid]

My grandfather was an Amtrack driver with the 11th AmTrack BN, 5th MarDiv in this battle. He went ashore at the foot of Suribachi (landing zone Red 2) in the first wave. He went back and forth exiting the vehicle to retrieve wounded to return to the hospital ships, then over to the transports to pick up fresh troops for the entire campaign. Said he didn't take his boots off for 36 days. Also had some much more tragic and grisly stories. :(

[online]

What a fantastic, well-made video. I enjoyed it thoroughly. My grandfather was at Iwo Jima, a sailor - he's still living today in fact! 98 years old!

[theresaherman]

Old guy here. I loved this series. Very in depth and detailed.
John Basilone was one heck of a marine! It makes me want to rewatch the pacific series. I just can’t imagine the kind of courage it took to land on that beach and face that carnage. They were the Greatest Generation!

[philbrown]

My dad was in WW2 because he joined the Marines from 38-46. He never talked about what he did during the war but he passed before I hit 17. I joined the Marines from 68-70 and served at Chu Lai 68-69 1st MAW. I’ll always wonder what he did and where.

[kenowens]

Our former VFW commander was on one of the transports at Iwo Jima. He said that when the fleet saw the flag raised on Mt. Suribachi, all the ships whistles and horns sound all around the island.

[that-plane-guy]

The effort in these videos and animations is incredible!

[ELMS]

I’ve seen other channels go to long-form, but they don’t have the production capability and knowledge required to make it work. But this is excellent! Never once did I think “This is too long.” The content is there and it’s so well presented! Keep it up!

[MichaelClark-uwex]

My wife's best friend's dad was a Marine scout on Iwo, he refused to ever talk about it.
He would only say that assaulting hell itself would have been preferable.

[QuestionableMorality]

So many deaths caused by miscommunication... First there was the corsair and naval barrage killing friendlies, then there was the breakout order by the Japanese that didn't reach the troops, and then there was a suicide charge despite explicitly being ordered not to charge.

[R_Alexander]

John Basilone's death shows you how quickly you can go from living to instantly dying in war.