By June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. Meanwhile, on the island's 554-foot-tall Mount Suribachi, Kuribayashi set up a seven-story high fortress. These are external links and will open in a new windowThese are external links and will open in a new window William H. Genaust, the team hacked its way through the dense brush that has taken over much of the famous battlefield.Genaust, a Marine combat photographer who filmed the famous second raising of the American flag on the island, was killed nine days later, reportedly near the southwest side of Hill 362 A while using a flashlight to light a tunnel for Marines attempting to secure the area.Because a vast network of caves and tunnels runs underneath the island’s surface, finding the exact location where Genaust fell may prove to be a challenge, said Army Maj. Sean Stinchion, the JPAC team leader.“A lot of the terrain has changed since the battle,” Stinchion said.

Iwo Jima: Inside famous battle tunnels, 70 years on - BBC News A view from inside one of the newly discovered caves found during a JPAC site investigation on Iwo Jima.IWO JIMA, Japan — The stench of sulfur from thermal vents filled his nostrils as Chief Petty Officer Pete Janse crawled through a dark tunnel near Hill 362 A, searching for signs of Marines who fell in battle more than six decades ago.Janse, a corpsman, is part of a seven-man Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team that on Wednesday completed a 10-day survey of Iwo Jima, the first U.S. search of the island in nearly 60 years.The team is made up of five servicemembers, including Janse and an explosive ordnance disposal technician, and two civilian anthropologists.Looking for a location where they might find a cave containing the remains of Marine Sgt. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.”The team was to leave Japan Thursday for its headquarters in Hawaii, where the members will file their report, Stinchion said. You said that I could get Norn Holgate phone number and that I could call him. “But inside it was like opening a time capsule, like walking into a dust-covered museum. He ordered his forces to set up hidden guns that blended into the island's landscape and organized the creation of an expansive network of underground tunnels into Iwo Jima's soft sulfuric land, which offered increased protection. This would rule out where Genaust’s remains would not be, explained Hugh Tuller, a forensic anthropologist with the team.After Genaust was killed, said Tuller, many reports of the incident indicate that the Marines accompanying him withdrew and called for demolition support to seal the entrance of the enemy-occupied tunnel.“What we are looking for now is caves that they could not see in their post-battle survey,” he said.Exploring the newly discovered caves gave the team a glimpse into the past and the fierce battle that took place where its members now stood.Bullet and shell holes pepper the cave entrances, while inside the team found signs of the tunnels’ previous occupants, including a few grenades, a three-inch artillery shell and even a few sake bottles, Stinchion said.Concerns over discovering 60-year-old unexploded ordnance while searching the tunnels meant that Marine Staff Sgt. Thanhs I guess your name is Oliver Burger, Well my name is Gareth Rosson.My email is Rossonotes@aol.col You could call me on 309-647-1444.I was on Iwo Jima in early 1946-1947. The pinnacle of this form of defense, however, can be found on Iwo Jima, where the Japanese engineered the whole Mount Suribachi with many tunnels leading to defensive emplacements, or exits for quick counterattacks. These are external links and will open in a new windowThese are external links and will open in a new windowThese are external links and will open in a new windowThese are external links and will open in a new windowIt is 70 years since the Battle of Iwo Jima where American forces landed on the island and defeated Japanese forces there.Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from the island, retracing the steps of many who fought there.These are external links and will open in a new windowRupert Wingfield-Hayes looks at the site of the Battle of Iwo Jima, 70 years after American forces landed there.