The Pittsburgh Press (March 8, 1945)
Marines nearing north tip of Iwo
Strong Jap defenses still to be overcome
GUAM (UP) – The 3rd Marine Division drove to the northern edge of the central plateau of Iwo Island and plunged down toward the northern beaches, only a few hundred yards away, in savage fighting today.
A breakthrough to the coast would split the last few thousand Japs holding out in pillboxes and gun emplacements studding the north and northeast coasts.
But those last few hundred yards were as the crow flies. It was considerably farther over the rocky ground, laced with steep crevasses and bristling with defenses.
Gain along coasts
The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions, fighting north along the east and west coasts, also hammered out new gains in what had literally become a battle to the death with the remnants of the enemy garrison.
Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt, commander of the Marine invasion corps, said the campaign had been “even tougher than we figured, and we figured it tough from the very start.” He described the island as the most heavily-defended spot in the history of warfare and said the remaining Japs would have to be “crowded out of their holes and killed one by one.”
Drive 500 yards
The veteran 3rd Division at the center of the line reached the northern rim of the 300-foot central plateau after an advance of some 500 yards in hand-to-hand combat yesterday.
The 5th Division, on the west flank, also advanced up to 500 yards, but the 4th Division was able to push ahead only 100 to 200 yards on the east flank against bitter enemy resistance.
Carrier planes continued their daily attacks on Chichi and Haha in the Bonin Islands, just north of Iwo. A Navy Liberator bombed and strafed two enemy cargo ships north of the Bonins.