RARE! WW2 US MARINE CORPS OFFICIAL ID'd + DATED IWO JIMA MARINES + LCVP's PHOTO

WW2 US MARINE CORPS OFFICIAL ID'd + DATED IWO JIMA MARINES + LCVP's PHOTO. US MARINE CORPS OFFICIAL (CODE) ID'd + (DAY) DATED. (THE DAY THE INVASION STARTED ON FEBRUARY 19 PLUS 7 DAYS). DURING THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA AT (RED BEACH 2) A MARINE STANDS IN THE BLACK VOLCANIC SAND WEARING HIS CAMO HELMET SMOKING HIS PIPE. HE MONITORS THE RED BEACH 2 ACTIVITIES AS MARINES IN FULL BATTLE GEAR MOVE TO THE FRONT LINES ON BOARD THE LANDING CRAFT. USS LCI(M)-631 BEHIND HIM. FURTHER IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE. LSM-239 WITH ITS DOOR OPEN ONTO THE BEACH.

WHILE IN THE FOREGROUND THE REMAINS OF A FEW LANDING CRAFT VEHICLE PERSONNEL (LCVP) HIGGINS BOATS (ONE IDENTIFIED AS PA-206-5) LIE AMONG OTHER INVASION DEBRIS. PERIOD HAND WRITTEN USMC IDENTIFIED ON THE UPPER REVERSE LEFT CORNER.

RED BEACH 2 (BEACH CODE). DIMENSIONS: 8 1/8" x 9 15/16".

VERY SHARP FOCUS WITH VERY GOOD CONTRAST. THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS NOT A REPRODUCTION OR A COPY. Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used by the Allies to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during World War 2. Landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively by the Allied forces in amphibious landings in World War II. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry a roughly platoon-sized complement of 36 men to shore.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between U. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early 1945. Located 750 miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of mainland Japan. American forces invaded the island on February 19, 1945, and the ensuing Battle of Iwo Jima lasted for five weeks.

In some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II, it's believed that all but 200 or so of the 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed, as were almost 7,000 Marines. But once the fighting was over, the strategic value of Iwo Jima was called into question.