Saving the Bombers
"Dinah Might"
Anderson Air Force Base
"On March 4, 1945... Through the overcast skies appeared a silver bomber... It was the Boeing B-29 Dinah Might, crippled in a raid over Tokyo, seeking an emergency landing on the island's scruffy main airstrip."
Anderson Air Force Base
"30 minutes later, the repaired plane left Iwo Jima. Its crew of eleven were saved. From that point on, American supply planes routinely used the airstrips."
"The Battle Of Iwo Jima: The Incredible Story Of Survival", Real History, 2022
"B-29 'Dinah Might'... parked at Motoyama Field... on Iwo Jima | Pacific Wrecks
Dinah Might was the first of many B-29 bombers that would be saved on Iwo Jima. Since the Marines had fought to capture the island, many B-29 crew members were saved.
"Strategic Airpower"
Anderson Air Force Base
"As early as April 7, a force of 80 P-51 Mustangs... took off from Iwo Jima to escort B-29s striking... Tokyo."
Anderson Air Force Base
"We plan to use Iwo Jima as you would a gun captured on the battlefield. We'll turn it against the enemy."
- Admiral Kelly Turner
"By war's end, a total of 2,451 B-29s made forced landings on the island. This... represented an estimated 26,961 flight crewmen, many of whom would have perished at sea without the availability of Iwo Jima".
Anderson Air Force Base
"It felt good to see them land, you knew they'd just come from Tokyo."
- Seargent J. Lindsey
"Whenever I land on this island I thank God for the men who fought for it."
- B-29 pilot
"P-51 Mustang fighters on the way to their base on... Iwo Jima" | National WWII Museum"
Plane routes from Iwo Jima | Battle Archives
Over a short span of time, thousands of Americans were saved by Iwo Jima's accessibility because of the efforts to seize it. The decision for taking the island was also needed to help the planes bomb mainland Japan and win the war.