Word: 5th
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When the first waves of marines went ashore on Iwo Jima, Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was there, commanding an assault team of the 27th Regiment, 5th Division. By noon Medal-of-Honorman Basilone had his outfit on the edge of Motoyama airfield. There he met the shell that had his number on it. By nightfall John Basilone, a good marine, was dead...
...5th and 3rd Marine Divisions, on the left and center respectively, made fair progress. The 4th, under Major General Clifton B. Gates, had tough going on the right flank. Near the end of the third week, the Japs on Cates's front decided to press for a decision. In the middle of the night they staged an infiltration attack-not a senseless banzai charge, but a well-executed, coordinated drive. The marines stood their ground, and in the morning 564 corpses were counted in front of their positions...
...northern end of the island was within gun sight for Major General Graves B. Erskine's 3rd Division, which had driven a wedge that had almost split the Japs into two pockets. On the flanks the 4th and 5th Divisions were grinding the enemy down...
...battle seesawed back & forth. The 4th Division, veterans of Kwajalein, Saipan and Tinian, has taken Hill 382 six times, has lost it five times (they will not lose it again) when Jap fire became unbearable. In spite of this the 4th edged over, around and beyond 382, and the 5th pressed forward relentlessly. Meanwhile Erskine's regiments pierced the center, nearly split northernmost...
...days of bitter fighting, the men of the 3rd Marine Division (Major General Graves B. Erskine), the 4th (Major General Clifton B. Cates) and the 5th (Major General Keller E. Rockey) hold approximately 40% of Iwo Jima, including half of Airfield No. 2, the fighter field. This is almost in the exact geographical center of the island and is perhaps the key to the entire defense. Built on a high plateau, it is defended by hundreds of interlaced pillboxes and concrete casemated caves, apparently connected by labyrinthine tunnels which wind in & out of the cliffsides...