‘Old Glory was hoisted atop the volcano’: WWII Diary Reveals Iwo Jima Battle

In February 1945, Gunner's Mate Anthony Sirco, only 19 years old, was half a world away from where he had been the summer before where he manned a gun on the USS Arkansas, the oldest ship in the U.S. Navy, as it pounded the beaches at D-Day.

Now, he and the crew of the old warship were headed to the South Pacific. “The Captain announced we were bound for an island Iwo Jima”, Sirco wrote in his journal, referring to a speck in the ocean no one had heard of. The island, some 700 miles from Tokyo, was needed as a base to strike Japan.

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His remarkably detailed and evocative journal describes what happened.

On Feb. 16 the Arkansas, sitting off the island, pounded Iwo Jima to give the Marines better odds before their beach landing: “Gun flashes can be seen from Iwo Jima… The warship carried two observation planes… One plane was catapulted, then the other.”

“0805 We open fire on Iwo Jima… A plane off the USS New York crashed into the sea immediately after catapulting… 0915 A number of Jap planes took off from Iwo Jima.”

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At 0400 on Feb. 17: “Flares and star shells have been dropped all night… All you could see was red tracers appear from other ships out of nowhere and fly into Iwo and explode… I could see Jap fire all over… The Pensacola’s plane shot down a Zero.”

Later in the morning: “Eight planes dived and dropped their eggs [bombs] and as a result there was a big explosion on the beach… A smoke screen was laid, for the landing boats to be launched which went through the smoke screen… The Japs have finally opened fire with their 6- and 8-inch guns. Fighting getting fierce… We got orders to close to 3,000 feet.”

The battle raged all day: “Three of our smaller ships have been reported hit… Fierce fighting going on in another position 20,000 yards from us… The USS Texas, Tennessee, Idaho fired phosphorescent shells into the center of Jap firing… All ships have been ordered to increase their fire.”

On Feb. 18, Sirco wrote of the dormant volcano, Mount Suribachi, on the southern-western end of Iwo Jima: “Eight planes dived on the top of the volcano. A big flame opened up into the air after ap lane released its bombs… The warships on the other side of the island overshoot the island and their shells explode in the water.”

The battle carried on into the night: “Two planes, Jap, burst into flames, as the result of anti-aircraft fire from our ship.”

Feb. 19: “The U.S. Marines hit the beach at Iwo… We have fired over 1,000 rounds... 1030 There are about 100 tanks on Iwo now… 1050 Our tanks have reached the south end of the No. One airfield, the troops are still going in… There are hundreds of all kinds of ships.

“The USS Washington about 5,000 yards away shelling Iwo... 1330 I was looking through a periscope in the turret to see Jap batteries firing at the landing boats bringing troops to the beach… Wildcats, Hellcats are pounding Iwo terrifically with bombs.