Combat· World War II
8-9 March Counterattack (Iwo Jima)
With their communications failing and defenses collapsing, the Japanese facing the 4th Marine Division abandoned their prepared positions and gambled on a coordinated counterattack rather than holding underground.
Through the night they tried to worm through the lines at the seam between two regiments; some screamed in banzai style, others used cover, and a few cried 'Corpsman' to slip through the line of resistance. The attack failed against Marine defensive fires. The 23d and 24th Marines held the boundary and destroyed the assault, and the repulse triggered the sudden dissolution of the enemy's defenses in the sector, opening the breakthrough to the east coast.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 843