The Bernoulli Effect

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October 23, 2006

Flags of Our Fathers: Historically Accurate?

David Germain of the Associated Press wrote a review of Flags of Our Fathers, the new Clint Eastwood-directed movie about the battle of Iwo Jima. Germain:

[...] Flags of Our Fathers also stands as a metaphor for the false security Americans felt before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the U.S.-led war on terrorism that has followed.

Meeting no opposition, U.S. troops landing on Iwo Jima's black beaches thought maybe the Japanese were all gone or had been killed by the naval bombardment preceding the invasion.

Military intelligence had underestimated the size of the Japanese forces, which were lurking in caves, tunnels and pillboxes to ambush the Marines as they moved inland.

The idea of a hidden enemy biding its time in underground bunkers, striking when the adversary's guard is down, resonates powerfully in a post-Sept. 11 world, when American troops continue to hunt elusive insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Emphasis mine. I'm no expert on the Pacific War, but I do know enough for this to ring some alarm bells. Everything I've ever read about the battle for Iwo indicates that, contrary to Germain's assertion, the Marines in the landing force came under very heavy fire as they crossed the beach. As Iwo veteran Richard Wheeler writes in his book Iwo, the Marines did not come under fire as they exited the landing craft and waded through the surf as did the Army forces assaulting Omaha beach on D-day. The Japanese commander Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi's intention was to let the Americans accumulate on the beachhead, and then firing would commence. According to Wheeler, the Marines were well-briefed and well aware of their peril as they crossed the beach; in any event the respite was very brief--the Japanese let loose with everything they had when the Marines were about 200 yards inland, and the beaches became a killing zone in hell.

I'm also doubtful of Germain's contention that US intelligence underestimated the size of the Japanese force. The island had been the subject of many photo reconnaissance missions by air and sea, including submarine; extensive physical models were constructed, and I can find no evidence that anyone underestimated the island's defenses. What the Americans did underestimate was the effectiveness of their pre-invasion bombardments--the same mistake that cost us so dearly on the Normandy beaches. And Germain's characterization of the 9/11 metaphor is simply weak: after the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu and Saipan, no one who landed on the beaches or planned the operation had their "guard" down.

I wonder if Germain is confusing his battles. Since I haven't seen Flags of Our Fathers I can't speak to the context, but Germain's description of the tactics sounds a lot closer to the Japanese defense of Okinawa than Iwo Jima. On a much larger island the Japanese were able to build a formidable defensive line miles away from the beach, and the US forces landed, assembled and moved off the beaches with virtually no resistance only to later endure a more devastating struggle than even Iwo Jima provided.

I don't know if the inaccuracy lies with Germain's perception, my own reading of Germain's perception, the movie itself. Perhaps someone who has actually seen it can correct me if I'm wrong.

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Comments

Posted by: The Bad at October 23, 2006 12:00 PM

Posted by: Jeff at October 24, 2006 08:59 AM

Posted by: Andrew Lockley at January 1, 2007 06:51 PM

Posted by: Jeff at January 8, 2007 10:56 AM

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