Some 21,600 Japanese and 6,800 U.S. soldiers were killed between February and March 1945 at the Battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest of World War II. Today, 66 years later, some 12,200 bodies remain trapped somewhere on the island. The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, announced yesterday that the Government intends to finally settle this debt with the country's historical memory of examining "every grain of sand" to recover the bodies.
This is the second visit to the area makes Kan, and third in total hits a prime minister in the history of Iwo To, as it is known since 2007 at the request of its inhabitants, after Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 to island, located 1,100 kilometers from Tokyo. "The government is responsible for bringing home the remains of soldiers," said Naoto Kan at the same time he promised to repatriate "as many as possible." The current president came to the scene of the battle over the burial ceremony of some 2,000 fighters, found last October.
Japan has recovered thousands of bodies from the end of combat in March 1945, approximately 12,000 Americans Nipponese and 220 still missing. Photographer Joe Rosenthal immortalized the battle in the island in 1945 with the image of some Marines hoisting the flag on Mount Suribachi. Clint Eastwood Iwo Jima was also the cinema in 2006 in the film Flags of Our Fathers, about the Marines who nailed the flag of the Rosenthal photo, and Letters from Iwo Jima, which reflects the Japanese version of the battle.
Ernie Pyle, one of the most popular correspondents of World War II, also covered the events of Iwo Jima. 
This is the second visit to the area makes Kan, and third in total hits a prime minister in the history of Iwo To, as it is known since 2007 at the request of its inhabitants, after Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 to island, located 1,100 kilometers from Tokyo. "The government is responsible for bringing home the remains of soldiers," said Naoto Kan at the same time he promised to repatriate "as many as possible." The current president came to the scene of the battle over the burial ceremony of some 2,000 fighters, found last October.
Japan has recovered thousands of bodies from the end of combat in March 1945, approximately 12,000 Americans Nipponese and 220 still missing. Photographer Joe Rosenthal immortalized the battle in the island in 1945 with the image of some Marines hoisting the flag on Mount Suribachi. Clint Eastwood Iwo Jima was also the cinema in 2006 in the film Flags of Our Fathers, about the Marines who nailed the flag of the Rosenthal photo, and Letters from Iwo Jima, which reflects the Japanese version of the battle.
Ernie Pyle, one of the most popular correspondents of World War II, also covered the events of Iwo Jima.
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