the reading text to the question .
After retaking much of the Philippines and liberating the American prisoners of war there, the Allies turned to Iwo Jima, an island that the writer William Manchester later described as an “ugly, smelly glob of cold lava squatting in a surly ocean.” Iwo Jima (which means “sulfur island” in Japanese) was critical to the United States as a base from which heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan. It was also perhaps the most heavily defended loaded bombers might reach Japan. It was also perhaps the most heavily defended spot on earth, with 20,700 Japanese troops entrenched in tunnels and caves. More than 6,000 Marines died taking this desolate island, the greatest number in any battle in the Pacific to that point. Only 200 Japanese survived.