FIRST WAVE OF TROOPS ASHORE

Bill Hudson hoped he'd see some action before World War II ended. He joined the Marines, who put him through an early version of SEAL training, then sent him into the infantry. He was told he would be taking the island of Iwo Jima before moving onto mainland Japan. He was told it would be easy, that there weren't many Japanese left on the island. He thought he was prepared.

Nobody was prepared for the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Instead of being mostly wiped out by bombing, the Japanese were alive and well--not on the island but inside of it, hidden in caves, tunnels, and mines...and ready for the Marines.

The Marines had far more men and supplies, but the Japanese would not give up. They would not surrender. They would fight until they were killed, and each vowed to take ten Marines with him.

When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, who wins?

Karen Tallentire, like most Los Alamos natives, now lives elsewhere. She has known Bill Hudson, her swim teacher and fellow runner, for as long as she can remember. Like him, she has experienced Cornell engineering classes and officer training. Like almost everyone now alive, she has never experienced anything resembling Iwo Jima.