Editing Battle of Iwo Jima (section)

===Moving off the beaches===
[[Landing Vehicle Tracked|Amtracs]], unable to gain traction in the black ash, made no progress up the slopes dominating the beach; their Marine passengers had to dismount and slog forward on foot.{{sfn|Leckie|1967|p=25}} Men of [[Seabee|Naval Construction Battalions]] 31 and 133, braving enemy fire, were eventually able to bulldoze roads off of the beach. This allowed the Marines to finally make some progress inland and get off the beach, which had become overcrowded with both men and materiel as follow-on waves of landing craft continued to unload. Casualties on the beach were heavy, with historian Derrick Wright noting "in virtually every shell hole there lay at least one dead Marine."{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=32}}

By 11:30, some Marines had managed to reach the southern tip of Airfield No. 1, the seizure of which had been one of the original American objectives for the first day. The Marines endured a fanatical charge by the over 100 Japanese troops, but were able to keep their toehold on Airfield No. 1 as night fell.{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=32}}