Combat· World War II
Final Counterattack (Iwo Jima)
Although organized resistance had been declared at an end, the surviving Japanese gathered in the night and launched the final counterattack of the campaign, erupting into rear-area bivouacs occupied by support troops near the airfield and raising havoc among sleeping Americans.
The focal point was the 5th Pioneer Battalion's area; those Marine pioneers, with Army fighter command personnel and the 8th Field Depot, threw together a defensive line and contained the enemy until daylight, when the fight became a hunt. Kuribayashi himself may have died in this action. The Marines anchored the improvised rear-area defense that broke the last attack.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 846