Iwo Jima flag raising photo

FILE - In this Feb 23, 1945 file photo, U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. On Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, which would have been Joe Rosenthal's 106th birthday, a group will deliver their petition with over 2,000 signatures and a letter requesting a future USS Joe Rosenthal to Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, who is responsible for naming ships. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. forces landed on Iwo Jima, Japan, 75 years ago Wednesday in a major turning point during World War II.

The Battle of Iwo Jima began on Feb. 19, 1945, and lasted 36 days, with about 70,000 Marines fighting 18,000 Japanese soldiers.

The island, about 660 miles south of Tokyo, was seen as vital to the war effort because Japanese fighter planes based there were intercepting American bombers.

Iwo Jima

Courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

The task for capturing the island fell to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine divisions, the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment and the Navy's 5th Fleet.

American forces had been bombing the island since June 1944, but the bombardments had relatively little effect because Japanese troops were holed up in about 11 miles of tunnels.

Iwo Jima

Courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Capturing the island also was difficult because many of the tunnels were on the slopes of Mount Suribachi. The Japanese directed artillery, small arms and mortar fire from openings downward on U.S. troops landing on the beaches and advancing inland with great difficulty on the slippery, black volcanic sand.

Over five weeks of fierce fighting, the Marines suffered more than 25,000 casualties, including nearly 7,000 dead, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The casualty rate was so high that the Army's 147th Infantry Regiment landed a month later to help with mopping-up operations.

The Japanese suffered even more devastating losses, with around 18,000 killed. Despite efforts to get the Japanese to surrender, only 216 were taken prisoner.

The iconic image of six Marines raising an American flag over Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945, was taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. It is recognized around the world, credited with boosting morale at a critical moment of World War II and generating record fundraising for war relief at home.

It’s also the first photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize in the same year it was taken.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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