March 26th serves as a day of remembrance for the thousands of American service members who risked and lost their lives fighting at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The Battle of Iwo Jima, which lasted from February 19th to March 26th, 1945, stands as one of the largest and most important battles of the Pacific War. During the Second World War, the Allied forces found the need for more airports near mainland Japan in order to carry out long-range bombing missions and identified the island of Iwo Jima as an ideal location. Over the course of 5 weeks,
more than 80,000 American service members carried out numerous missions in order to gain complete control over the island, many of whom were Illinoisans.
