Combat· World War II
The Gorge / Kitano Point
The Gorge, also called Death Valley or the Bloody Gorge, was the last major pocket, a roughly 700-yard box canyon near Kitano Point where Kuribayashi concentrated the remnants of his garrison for a final stand.
Seldom did the attackers see a live enemy; the defenders fought from caves and refused to be drawn out. The 5th Marine Division ground forward in cave-by-cave fighting with flame tanks, demolitions, and armored bulldozers, with the 3d Marine Division taking part of the sector for the final blows. The island had already been declared secure, but the Marines fought on here for days in the killing climax of the battle.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 845