Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton will host the 69^th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima commemoration here at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, 22 February.

The public portion of the commemoration will consist of a sunset memorial service at the Iwo Jima monument outside of the South Mesa Club.

The Battle of Iwo Jima took place from 19 February to 26 March, 1945, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The 36-day mission of capturing an island with three strategic airfields, resulted in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Theater, with more than 26,000 American casualties, including over 6,800 dead.

The battle was immortalized on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal’s photo of five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy Corpsman raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the island.

                                                                                                           -30-

                                                            ******MEDIA COORDINATION INSTRUCTIONS******

 Media interested in covering this event must call the Camp Pendleton Media Relations Office at (760) 725-5044 or email cpao.mcbcampenmedia@usmc.mil no later than noon Friday, February 21, 2014. Members of the media who have RSVP’d will meet at Camp Pendleton’s MAIN GATE at 3:45 PM on SATURDAY to be escorted to the event.

-USMC-