NA P-51 takes off from Iwo Jima

Len Dietz, Providence Permittin and ground crew Iwo Jima June 1945

A North American P-51 takes off from Iwo Jima, in the Bonin Islands. From this hard-won base our fighters escorted the B-29’s on bombing missions to Japan, and also attacked the Empire on their own.

Image was used in the book, “Third Report of the C.G. of the A.A.F. to the Secretary of War”. (1945)

Senior Airman Margot Hubbard, 455th Expeditionary Operations Group, prepares 30 mm ammunition rounds