Darrell Issa: “Today is a day on which we are reminded of how much we owe to the men and women of the Marine Corps who 60 years ago…”

“Today is a day on which we are reminded of how much we owe to the men and women of the Marine Corps who 60 years ago took an island in the Pacific at great personal cost of life and limb beyond that which we today could even begin to imagine. Of the 70,000 Marines who participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima, one in four were wounded, some 17,000. Of them, nearly 6,000 lost their lives. The invasion began on February 19. By February 23, we had declared that we had taken the island. But that was the beginning, not the end, of Iwo Jima. It continued for 31 more days. It was not until March 25 that the island was truly safe from foreign fighters. That battle, one of the longest for an island in the Pacific, has led to many stories, many movies, each glorifying what was one of the toughest battles of the war. Now, 60 years later, we are prepared to honor once again this unique sacrifice.”