Nightmare on Iwo Jima: A Marine in Combat

12. Know Thine Enemy

Cha pte r 12 Know Thine Enemy W e had a gross misconception of the enemy before we encountered them. Since the bombing of Pearl Harbor and throughout the war, our media created a distorted image of the Japanese fighters and their leaders. Newspapers and magazine cartoons caricatured the enemy as inhuman, inferior, puny, wearing oversized, horned-rim glasses, resembling bespectacled monkeys. Japan's leaders were pictured as bungling idiots, incompetent, unimaginative, and inefficient planners. Comedians targeted the enemy as objects of their jokes, and songwriters attributed words of ridicule and belittlement to them, creating the impression that they were pushovers. These image molders led us to believe we were fighting a third-rate, ill-trained enemy with outdated equipment and ineffective weaponry. None of this was true. To the contrary, the Japanese fighters were well-trained, combat-wise, expert marksmen, well disciplined, ingenious, uncanny, crafty, and pro- grammed to fight and die for their ultimate purpose: their duty to their emperor. We certainly underestimated their ability and misunderstood their extreme loyalty and dedication to the emperor. They were not at all what our image molders back home made them out to be. They were not jokes; they were not inept. We hated them enough to kill them, but we did respect their ability. I often thought if we had to go to war again, I would want them on our side. They were not puny. I was surprised to see so many of them six feet tall and weighing more than two hundred pounds. Later, I was informed that these were the Imperial forces, whose special assignment was the defense of their homeland. Since Iwo Jima was the doorway to Japan's mainland, this explained their presence on the island. I did not see many Japanese wearing glasses. They were persistent and patient; they could hide and wait hours and even days before they would fire a single shot to hit their designated target. I recall the interrogation of a Japanese prisoner in which he explained how they could identifyand thus eliminate-the commanding officer by observing which foxhole was visited most frequently or if he was followed by a radio man or a messenger. It was not just a coincidence that many of our officers were shot through the head with high-powered rifles. We also learned that the Japanese were trained to shoot us in the legs, making us immobile. This would force other Marines to expose themselves as they came out to our rescue. Our men who were retrieving the wounded became easy prey. Our training emphasized the concept of chain of command . When a leader became a casualty, the next in line of command immediately assumed the responsibility of leadership. This enabled the mission to continue without Know Thine Enemy 83 84 HEADING NORTH interruption. The Japanese philosophy ignored that premise because they refused to accept the fact that they were dispensable. Consequently, when their leaders were killed or wounded, the others fought as disorganized small bands or as individuals-though ferocious and tenacious. The Japanese were aware of our pattern of life and capitalized on it. They constantly disrupted our nights by intermittent artillery barrages, rifle fire, and counterattacks in an effort to make us ineffective the following day. After a few days their harassment took its toll on us. What made the Japanese warrior so ready and willing to sacrifice his life for his emperor? What made him so dedicated and obedient at any cost? It was startling to learn how and why the Japanese became submissive in their self-sacrificing devotion, completely dedicated in body and soul. It did not begin with Emperor Hirohito; he was one in a continuous line of succession , dating back some twenty-five hundred years, of descendants from the Sun Goddess. The rising sun on Japan's flags, ships, planes, tanks, and the like symbolized and furthered the premise of the emperor's direct relationship to the Sun Goddess. Many Japanese fighting men wrapped the rising sun flag around their body as they went into battle . This was to strengthen their resolve as well as express their devotion to the emperor. Hirohito was revered as a living god. Considered to be of divine nature, he was not subject in any way to his people. He was above all of them and beyond reproach in wisdom and in all matters pertaining to education, the government, the...