American graves dug in in Iwo Jima cemetery. U.S.

American graves dug in in Iwo Jima cemetery. U.S. Marines dig graves in an American cemetry an Iwo Jima for their comrades who paid with their lives for the taking of the former Japanese bastion 750 miles (1,200 km.) from Tokyo, capital of Japan. The Marines took official possession of the island on March 13, 1945, 23 days after their initial landings. Casualties were 4,189 men killes, 15,308 wounded and 441 missing. More than 21,000 Japanese soldiers were killed. On March 31, the U.S. Tenth Army started to tighten the noose still more tingly around Japan by landing on Okinawa, in the Ryukyu (Loochoo) group, 326 miles (579 km.) from the enemy's home islands. NI 6558