The Battle of Iwo Jima was a desperate clash in the final months of the Pacific War, an engagement that tested the endurance and strategy of both American and Japanese forces. Located in the Volcano Islands, Iwo Jima was a crucial waypoint between the Mariana Islands and the Japanese home islands. It was small—just eight square miles of volcanic rock—but its strategic value was enormous. Capturing Iwo Jima would provide the U.S. with airfields for fighter escorts to protect B-29 bombers on their missions over Japan. It would also serve as an emergency landing site for crippled bombers returning from those raids. The Japanese knew this, and they turned the island into a fortress.