Pacific War Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces to attack targets throughout the Philippines and the South China Sea. The Battle of Iwo Jima ("Operation Detachment") in February 1945 was one of the bloodiest battles fought by the Americans in the Pacific War. Iwo Jima is an 8 sq mile (21 km) island situated halfway between Tokyo and the Mariana Islands. Holland Smith, the commander of the invasion force, aimed to capture the island and prevent its use as an early-warning station against air raids on the Japanese Home Islands, and to use it as an emergency landing field. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi,
Day of Remembrance (Japanese Americans) former site of the Pacific International Livestock Exposition, which, in 1942, had been the site of the Portland Assembly Center. In 2013, a ceremony was to be held in San Francisco's Japantown district. Los Angeles County has officially recognized the day. Day of Remembrance (Japanese Americans) The Day of Remembrance (DOR, ) is a day commemorating the Japanese American internment during World War II. Events in numerous U.S. states are held on or near February 19, the day in 1942 that Executive Order 9066 was signed, requiring internment of all Americans of Japanese ancestry. The first Day of Remembrance commemorating