The Battle of Iwo Jima began on Feb. 19, 1945, as thousands of Marines landed on a beach of volcanic ash in the Pacific. For five weeks, Marines, Navy Corpsmen and Seabees fought for control of the heavily-fortified island. Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams recalls the battle. | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

On Feb. 23, 1945, five days after the initial assault on the island of Iwo Jima, Marines took control of the high ground and planted a flag atop Mt. Suribachi. The flag raising didn’t signal the end of the fight on Iwo Jima, but it did motivate the Marines and corpsmen still flushing out an entrenched enemy force. Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams and Navajo Code Talker Thomas H. Begay recall what it was like to see the Stars and Stripes fly high over the island. “It was the grea