Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, now renamed Ioto, is a small volcanic island in the Ogasawara Archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean, some 750 miles south of the island of Honshu, one of Japan's four main islands. Administratively, it is part of Tokyo Prefecture.

The island was the site of one of the fiercest battles of World War II, in February and March of 1945, but was ultimately conquered by the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy, at a cost of almost 50,000 casualties on both sides. A photograph by Joe Rosenthal depicting six Marines raising the U.S. flag after the capture of the island has become iconic and was turned into a monument to the U.S. Marine Corps located next to Arlington National Cemetery.

Major leaguer Harry O'Neill and minor leaguer Jack Lummus both died in the battle for Iwo Jima, while another minor leaguer, Floyd Fogg, won two purple hearts while fighting in the battle.