Editing Battle of Iwo Jima (section)

===Situation on the beaches===
Unfortunately for the landing force, the planners at Pearl Harbor severely misjudged the situation that would face Schmidt's Marines. The beaches had been described as "excellent," and the thrust inland was expected to be "easy." The apparent lack of a vigorous Japanese response to the landings led the Navy to conclude that its bombardment had effectively suppressed the Japanese defenses. The Marines initially began deployment on the beach in good order,{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=26}} but the landings swiftly became congested due to the loose volcanic ash that covered the island. After allowing the Americans to concentrate men and materiel on the beach for just over an hour, throughout which they maintained cohesive fire discipline, the Japanese opened fire. Shortly after 10:00 machine guns, mortars, and heavy artillery began to rain down on the crowded beach.{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=26–27}}

{{blockquote|At first it came as a ragged rattle of machine-gun bullets, growing gradually lower and fiercer until at last all the pent-up fury of a hundred hurricanes seemed to be breaking upon the heads of the Americans. Shells screeched and crashed, every hummock spat automatic fire and the very soft soil underfoot erupted underfoot with hundreds of exploding land mines&nbsp;... Marines walking erect crumpled and fell. Concussion lifted them and slammed them down, or tore them apart&nbsp;...{{sfn|Leckie|1967|p=28}}}}Furthermore, after crossing the beach, the Marines were faced with {{cvt|15|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} slopes of soft black volcanic ash.{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=26}} This ash allowed for neither secure footing nor the construction of [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]] to protect the Marines from hostile fire. However, the ash did help to absorb some of the [[Fragmentation (weaponry)|fragments]] from Japanese artillery.<ref name="Allen" />{{blockquote|Marines were trained to move rapidly forward; here they could only plod. The weight and amount of equipment was a terrific hindrance and various items were rapidly discarded. First to go was the gas mask&nbsp;...{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=26}}}}
[[File:Marines burrow in the volcanic sand on the beach of Iwo Jima.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[1st Battalion 23rd Marines]] burrow in the volcanic sand on Yellow Beach 1. A beached LCI is visible upper left with Mount Suribachi upper right.]]
The Japanese crews manning the heavy artillery in Mount Suribachi opened reinforced steel doors shielding their positions in order to fire, and then closed them immediately afterward to prevent counterfire from the Marines and U.S. Navy gunners. This made it exceedingly difficult for American units to destroy a Japanese artillery piece.<ref name="Allen" /> To make matters worse for the Americans, most bunkers were connected to the elaborate tunnel system that ran through most of the island, such that bunkers that were cleared with [[flamethrower]]s and grenades were often reoccupied shortly afterwards by Japanese troops moving underground. This tactic caused many casualties among the Marines, as they walked past reoccupied bunkers without expecting to suddenly take fresh fire from them.<ref name="Allen" />

''Time-Life'' correspondent [[Robert Sherrod]] described the landing simply as "a nightmare in hell."{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=27}}
[[File:Marines with LVT(A)-5 in Iwo Jima 1945.jpg|thumb|U.S. Marines of the Second Battalion, Twenty-Seventh Regiment, wait to move inland on Iwo Jima, soon after going ashore on 19 February 1945. An LVT(A)-5 amphibious tractor is in the background. Red Beach One.]]