4 real historical locations · Japan
Clint Eastwood's film about the six men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima and the propaganda machine that exploited the iconic photograph. Three survivors were brought home to sell war bonds, their real stories far more complicated than the image suggested.
CinemaMapped has mapped 4 real historical locations where the story takes place, spanning Japan.
The raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi and the stories of the six men photographed in the iconic image.
The famous flag-raising photo by Joe Rosenthal was actually the second flag raised on Suribachi on February 23, 1945. The image became the most reproduced photograph in history and was used to drive a massive war bond...
View location →The 4th Marine Division's landing beach — two miles of volcanic black sand raked by Japanese fire from the surrounding high ground.
D-Day on Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945, put 30,000 Marines ashore in the first wave. The black volcanic sand jammed weapons and made digging impossible. Nearly 2,000 Americans were killed or wounded on the first day.
View location →A fortified natural rock formation on Iwo Jima's eastern coast — one of the bloodiest Marine fighting positions of the battle.
The Quarry was a natural rock formation the Japanese had converted into an impregnable fortress. Marines of the 4th Division suffered catastrophic losses assaulting it in the first days of the battle.
View location →The first Japanese airfield captured by US Marines — taken on day two, validating the entire operation's strategic purpose.
Capturing the airfield on February 20, 1945 proved the invasion's worth. Within weeks, P-51 Mustangs flew from here to escort B-29s over Tokyo. It was the first Japanese home-territory airfield taken by American forces.
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