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Into History.

com. It's 10 a.m. on

on the

it's 10 a.m. on February 19th, 1945 in the Pacific Ocean 750 miles south of mainland Japan.

21 year old Francis Pierce narrows his eyes against the wind as his landing craft powers

through the surf towards the tiny island of Iwojima.

Just over three years ago, a Japanese surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor

dragged the United States into World War II.

Now American forces are grinding out a slow offensive against Japan and the Pacific, fighting their way from island to island.

Iwojima is the most important step in the campaign yet.

It's perfectly placed as a base to strike at Japan itself, but standing in the Americans way is a well-equipped

and highly fortified Japanese garrison on the island.

This morning, Francis is one of the thousands of American soldiers who are storming the beaches of

Eujima during an amphibious assault.

Only Francis isn't here to fight.

He's a medic, trained to save lives, not take them.

Francis grabs the side of the landing craft to steady himself as it nears the beach.

He exchanges a glance with one of the young soldiers crammed into the boat beside

him. They're almost there.

...