"Red Blood and Black Sand" -Chuck Tatum If there were any living embodiment of hell it would be the Marine's landing at Iwo Jima. Strategically critical for Air Missions into the Japanese mainland, protected by a fierce enemy who would rather die, than surrender, who was going to make that American pay for every inch of ground they stepped upon. The IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) would make Iwo Jima the Marines' bloodiest battle in its history, a bloody battle stretching thirty-six days (Feb 19, 1945-March 26, 1945) with twenty-seven thousand casualties on our side, seven thousand of which were deaths. The culmination of which was forever immortalized in the mounting of our flag upon Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi.