With genuine volcanic sand from the sulphur island, the Praesidus Iwo Jima 80th Commemoration A-11 watches offer a rare chance to own a piece of history. Praesidus watches.

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.

Photos of Marty Connor, along with one of his original 5th Marine Division patches, are propped in the black sand along one of Iwo Jima's landing beaches, with Mount Suribachi in the background.

Iwo Jima has always been beautiful, a volcanic chunk of rock surrounded by cobalt sea. ... Its bluffs and beaches became a vast cemetery, volcanic ash and black sand burying the dead.

And then there is experience that comes with standing in the “black sand” of Red and Green Beach on Iwo Jima. There too, he said, a U.S. Marine will “feel it. ...

These days, Jessor keeps some mementos on his work desk to remind him of his time on Iwo Jima: a deactivated Japanese hand grenade he took home from the battle and a jar containing black sand from the ...

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.

Three days later, on Feb. 19, across the black volcanic sand, 30,000 U.S. Marines crawled, ran and slipped towards entrenched Japanese troops on Iwo Jima. It was predicted that reinforcements ...

Iwo Jima comprised only 8 square miles, and the plan was for U.S. forces to conquer the island in three to five days, then sail off to invade Japan. Things did not go according to plan. Fighting ...

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 ...