Most US foot soldiers, Army or Marine, who were Killed In Action are currently working on their third or fourth burial. Ultimately the next-of-kin of the killed soldier or Marine was contacted in the years immediately after the war and given the option of having the remains of their loved one returned to the states, where they could be buried anywhere the next-of-kin wished, including any of the National Cemeteries, such as Arlington. For those who chose to leave their lost son among his comrades the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific was established in the late 40s, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the crater of an extinct volcano called The Punchbowl. Undoubtedly the majority of those Marines killed on Iwo Jima who were not returned to their families in the states are there today. They would have been first buried on Iwo, then removed and reinterred on Guam, again temporarily, until The Punchbowl was created.
The American Battle Monuments Commission operates more than twenty cemeteries in foreign countries for US service personnel killed in wars, mostly containing WWII personnel. The ABMC does not operate The Punchbowl, which is on US soil, and contains the remains of Americans killed all over the Pacific. The ABMC does have one cemetery in the Pacific, at Manila. I'd guess that it mostly contains men who were killed liberating the Philippines, but there may be a few Iwo men in there also.
70,000 US servicemen and 22,000 Japanese soldiers fought on Iwo Jima. All the Japanese died and 26,000 Marines died.
It is dedicated to all Marines who have died in combat since 1775.
To honor all Marines that died in battle especially the battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima '45.
US Marines .
The American flag was raised atop Mount Suribachi, on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945.
The Marines raised the US flag on the top of Mt Suribachi in the Battle for Iwo Jima.
Feb/Mar 1945.
Japanese versus US Marines .
The airfield.
No American soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for the battle of Iwo Jima, largely because no American soldiers fought the battle of Iwo Jima. (Marines get really mad if you call them soldiers, and Iwo Jima was a Marine action.) Twenty-three Marines and four sailors earned the Medal of Honor for this battle. Fourteen of the Medals were earned posthumously--the recipient died doing his heroic action. Only eighty-two Marines earned the Medal in all of World War II.
70,000 US Marines