Outskirts Press, INC.

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?

"Iwo Jima was a 'perfect' battle: expected by both sides and fought over a well-defined area—military force against military force in a barren landscape, with no civilians to complicate matters."

"The noise was deafening, and the beach was full of smoke, devastation, wounded, mangled, and dead Marines. It was the most horrible sight I had ever seen in my life."