The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.
Mount Suribachi is a 169-metre (554 ft)-high mountain on the southwest end of Iwo Jima in the northwest Pacific Ocean under the administration of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1945:
The Volcano and Ryūkyū Islands campaign was a series of battles and engagements between Allied forces and Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific Ocean campaign of World War II between January and June 1945.
The 73d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1966.
The 318th Fighter Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.
The 414th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 944th Fighter Wing of Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
The VII Fighter Command was a command and control organization of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces. The Headquarters were based at several locations with forward command moving with the campaigns. It was redesignated the 20th Fighter Wing and later, the 46th Fighter Wing before inactivating on 24 August 1948.
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II.
The 548th Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. It is geographically separated from the 57th, whose headquarters are at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. At Fort Johnson, the squadron controls multi-service close air support and forward air control aircraft and tactical air control assets in combat exercises with the US Army Joint Readiness Training Center.
The 549th Combat Training Squadron is a non-flying United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 57th Operations Group, and is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It conducts air support and air interdiction sorties in "Green Flag (West)" exercises to train USAF fighter pilots and the aerospace power component to the US Army's brigade combat training.
Central Field or Iwo Jima Air Base is a former World War II airfield on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands, located in the Central Pacific. The Bonin Islands are part of Japan. Today, the base is the only airfield on the island, operated by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
North Field was a World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Abandoned after the war, today North Field is a tourist attraction. Along with several adjacent beaches on which U.S. Marines landed during the Battle of Tinian, the airfield is the major component of the National Historic Landmark District Tinian Landing Beaches, Ushi Point Field, Tinian Island.
Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945.
Dudhkundi Airfield is an abandoned airfield in India, located 12 miles (19.2 km) SE of Jhargram, in the Jhargram district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
James Michael Vande Hey was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. During World War II, he flew missions in the Central Pacific and was credited in destroying four enemy airplanes in aerial combat, including two over mainland Japan while flying very long range (VLR) fighter missions from Iwo Jima. He retired in 1971 from military service.
During World War II, a series of Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands took place between November 1944 and January 1945. These raids targeted United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bases and sought to disrupt the bombing of Japan by Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers operating from the islands. The Japanese lost 37 aircraft during this operation, but destroyed 11 B-29s and damaged a further 43. Preparations were also made for commando raids on the bases in early and mid-1945 but these did not go ahead.
Abner Maurice Aust Jr. was an American flying ace in the 506th Fighter Group during World War II, and a career fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. During World War II, Aust flew Very Long Range (VLR) fighter missions from Iwo Jima and was one of the last pilots to become flying aces in the war. During Vietnam War, Aust commanded two fighter wings and flew more than 300 combat missions.
Naval Base Iwo Jima was a naval base built by United States Navy on the Japanese Volcano Island of Iwo Jima during and after the Battle of Iwo Jima, that started on February 19, 1945. The naval base was built to support the landings on Iwo Jima; the troops fighting on Iwo Jima; and the repair and expansion of the airfields on Iwo Jima. United States Navy Seabee built all the facilities on the island.
James Buckley Tapp was an American flying ace in the 15th Fighter Group during World War II. During the war, Tapp flew very long range (VLR) fighter missions from Iwo Jima, and was credited in destroying eight enemy airplanes in aerial combat. He retired in 1970 at the rank of colonel, after 29 years of distinguished service.
