The sand was handed over in clear, plastic discs that resembled a hockey puck, Sekiya said. It could possibly be the first time Japanese people have received sand from Iwo Jima, Fujiwara said.

Pontisso visited Iwo Jima on just that single day (March 21), but his trip also took him to the islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian. "I did bring back a jug of sand," he said.

Marty Connor was 18 years old when he fought all 36 days during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. But perhaps his greatest legacy would be what happened after the war. 80 years after Iwo Jima, his ...

He remembers crawling through the sand toward the American forces on the far side of Iwo Jima. And he remembers waking up on a medical ship — not knowing what happened, who saved him or how they ...

Ed Tice, who lost comrades in 1945 on Iwo Jima, didn’t quite make it to Memorial Day, when we pause to honor those who died defending our country.

MIYAZAKI -- Hoping to ease the grief of those who lost family members in 1945's Battle of Iwo Jima, sand collected from the island by a U.S. historian was offered to relatives at a ceremony here ...

Let us remember the gallant Marines who fought that fateful battle on Iwo Jima 75 years ago. ... Marine Corporal E. Hartman said the sand was “so soft it was like trying to run in loose coffee ...

Her brother, U.S. Marine Sgt. Mike Strank, 25, died March 1, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima. He was killed by a mortar round while scratching out an attack plan in the black sand.

The 1950 Hollywood war film, “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” starred John Wayne in the lead role of Marine Sergeant John Stryker, who is killed in action after leading the assault up Mt Suribachi. Wayne ...

Phillip “Bunky” Crawford, who makes his home in Mableton, Ga., also served in the military. “We had a bond right there,” Mills said. Crawford told Mills how he was planning on building a massive sand ...

But Eastwood also needed to shoot scenes that re-created Iwo Jima’s famous black sand beaches. The filmmakers struck gold when location manager Steve Beimler found Pisgah Crater, east of Barstow ...

The Battle of Iwo Jima raged on from Feb. 19, 1945, to March 16, 1945, leaving thousands dead and even more wounded. ... The feet of a dead Japanese soldier stick out of a mound of sand.