U.S. Marine Corps

5th Marine Division

The 5th Marine Division - the "Spearhead Division" - fought one battle. One battle was enough. Iwo Jima defined the 5th Marine Division, and the 5th Marine Division defined Iwo Jima. The flag on Suribachi, the most reproduced photograph in history, was raised by Marines of the 28th Marines - a 5th Marine Division regiment. The division paid for that photograph with blood on a scale that defies comprehension. Activated in 1944, deactivated in 1946. Two years of existence. One battle. Immortal.

THE SPEARHEAD DIVISION Est. 1944

5TH MARINE DIVISION

EST. JANUARY 21, 1944

5TH MARINE DIVISION

The Spearhead Division - One Battle, Immortal

TRAINED - HAWAII

The 5th Marine Division was activated at Camp Pendleton on January 21, 1944 - a division built from scratch to assault the most fortified island in the Pacific. The division trained at Camp Tarawa on the Big Island of Hawaii, named in honor of the 2nd Marine Division's sacrifice. The insignia is a scarlet spearhead on a gold V for the fifth division - simple, direct, and aggressive. Many of the division's Marines were fresh from boot camp. Some were veterans reassigned from other divisions. All of them were about to fight the most famous battle in Marine Corps history. Read more

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DIVISION STRUCTURE - THE REGIMENTS

26TH MARINE REGIMENT

26TH MARINE REGIMENT

Center Sector - Iwo Jima

REACTIVATED - VIETNAM

The 26th Marines fought through the center of Iwo Jima, then was deactivated after the war. The regiment was reactivated for Vietnam and gained its own immortality at Khe Sanh, where it held the combat base for 77 days under siege as part of the 3rd Marine Division. Two battles, two different wars, both legendary. Read more

27TH MARINE REGIMENT

27TH MARINE REGIMENT

Nishi Ridge and the Northern Push

The 27th Marines drove north through some of the most fortified terrain on Iwo Jima, including the desperate fighting around Nishi Ridge. The regiment existed for less than two years and fought one battle. That battle was enough to earn campaign streamers most regiments never see in a decade of service. Read more

28TH MARINE REGIMENT

28TH MARINE REGIMENT

The Flag on Suribachi

BATTALION - THE FLAG

FLAG RAISERS KIA

The 28th Marines will forever be the regiment that raised the flag on Mount Suribachi. The regiment drew the mission of isolating and capturing the 546-foot volcanic fortress while under fire from every direction. Four days of fighting up the slopes, burning out cave positions and sealing tunnels, until a patrol from 2/28 reached the summit. The photograph of the second flag raising became the symbol of the Marine Corps itself. But the 28th Marines' battle did not end on Suribachi. After taking the mountain, the regiment turned north and fought through the rest of the island. Three of the six men in Rosenthal's photograph - Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, and Michael Strank - were killed on Iwo Jima before the battle ended. Read more

13TH MARINE REGIMENT

13TH MARINE REGIMENT

Division Artillery

The 13th Marines provided artillery support on Iwo Jima from gun positions dug into the black volcanic sand - positions so soft the howitzers had to be re-laid after every fire mission because the recoil drove the trails deeper into the ash. The regiment's gunners fired under direct Japanese observation from the high ground, taking counter-battery fire while supporting the infantry's advance. Deactivated with the division in 1946. Read more

IWO JIMA - THE DEFINING BATTLE February 19 - March 26, 1945

FEBRUARY 19, 1945

D-DAY - GREEN BEACH

The 5th Marine Division Lands on the Left Flank

MARINES - SURIBACHI

MARINES - CENTER

The 5th Marine Division landed on the far left of Iwo Jima's invasion beaches - Green Beach, directly beneath the looming mass of Mount Suribachi. The 28th Marines had the most terrifying assignment on the island: turn left and take Suribachi while the rest of the division turned right and drove north. Every Marine on Green Beach was under observation from Suribachi's heights. Japanese artillery, mortars, and machine guns had pre-registered every square foot of the beach. The volcanic ash was so soft that men sank to their knees, vehicles bogged down, and the beach became a killing field of stalled equipment and pinned-down Marines. The 5th Marine Division suffered more casualties on D-Day than any other division on the island. Read more

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MOUNT SURIBACHI

The Flag Raising - February 23, 1945

MARINES REGIMENT

Mount Suribachi - 546 feet of volcanic rock honeycombed with tunnels and bunkers - dominated the southern tip of Iwo Jima. The 28th Marines spent four days fighting up Suribachi's slopes, burning and blasting their way through interconnected cave positions. On February 23, a patrol from 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines reached the summit and raised a small American flag. Hours later, a larger replacement flag was raised - and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the image that became the most famous photograph of World War II. The flag raising on Suribachi was not the end of the battle. It was Day Four of a thirty-six day fight. When Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal saw the flag go up from the beach below, he turned to General Holland Smith and said, "The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years." Three of the six men who raised the replacement flag were killed before the battle ended. Read more

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MARCH 1-26, 1945

THE DRIVE NORTH

Nishi Ridge, Hill 362A, The Gorge

DAYS AFTER FLAG

After Suribachi, the 5th Marine Division turned north and joined the 3rd and 4th Marine Divisions in the grinding advance across the island. The division fought through Nishi Ridge - named for the Japanese cavalry officer Baron Takeichi Nishi, an Olympic gold medalist - and Hill 362A, where entire companies were reduced to platoon strength in a single day's fighting. The final reduction of the Gorge in the northwest corner of the island took the last week of the battle. Japanese defenders fought from caves and tunnels that had to be sealed one by one with demolitions and flamethrowers. When the battle finally ended on March 26, the 5th Marine Division had suffered over 2,000 killed and 6,000 wounded - roughly 75% casualties across the division. Read more

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27 MEDALS OF HONOR

Uncommon Valor Was a Common Virtue

TOTAL U.S. WOUNDED

MEDALS OF HONOR

5TH MARDIV CASUALTIES

Iwo Jima produced more Medals of Honor than any other battle in Marine Corps history - twenty-seven, fourteen of them posthumous. Admiral Chester Nimitz's words became the epitaph for the entire battle: "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." The 5th Marine Division bore the heaviest cost. Of the roughly 8,000 Marines in the division's three infantry regiments, approximately 6,000 became casualties. Some rifle companies suffered over 100% casualties when replacements are counted. The division that raised the flag on Suribachi was effectively destroyed in the process of taking the island. Read more

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DEACTIVATED FEBRUARY 5, 1946

OCCUPATION & DEACTIVATION

Sasebo, Japan - Then Home

OCCUPATION DUTY

YEARS OF EXISTENCE

After Iwo Jima, the 5th Marine Division moved to Japan for occupation duty at Sasebo. On February 5, 1946 - almost exactly two years after activation - the division was deactivated. Unlike the 4th Marine Division, the 5th was never reactivated, not even as a Reserve formation. But the 5th Marine Division needs no active lineage to be remembered. The photograph on Suribachi made sure of that. Every Marine Corps War Memorial, every poster, every recruiting image that shows that flag going up on the mountain - that is the 5th Marine Division's legacy. Immortal in a single frame. Read more

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Feb 23

FLAG ON SURIBACHI

27

MEDALS OF HONOR - IWO

75%

DIVISION CASUALTIES

Immortal

ONE BATTLE - FOREVER