Iwo Jima in WWII

Japan opens the island of Iwo Jima to visitors one day each year, usually in early March. During a tour with Military-Historical Tours (Alexandria, VA; 800/722-9501, www.miltours.com) in 2007, I took a truck to the cave where the Japanese hospital was located during WWII. The sides of the cave were lined with old shoes, an assortment of baskets, canteens, old gasoline drums and empty sake bottles.

About 20 yards into the cave there was a ladder leading up to a “spider hole” in the ceiling. From the outside it would have been camouflaged. A Japanese soldier could open it, pop his head out to spot a Marine, shoot at him, sometimes from only several feet away, put the grassy lid back on and disappear back down into the cave.

Most memorable about the hospital cave was how hot it was down there. The deeper into the cave we went, the more it felt like a sauna. It was hard to imagine how the men withstood the heat and the pounding of the US bombardments.

GERARD BROOKER

Bethel, CT