While the photographs from Suribachi raced around the world, the Marines prepared for a new and even more punishing fight. Their next objective was the Motoyama Plateau. Three airfields surrounded by a citadel of pillboxes, bunkers, and caves woven together to bleed the invasion dry.

At the heart of this defensive belt lay three features: the heights of Hill 382, the blockhouse of Turkey Knob, and the bowl of the Amphitheater. Together, they formed the Meat Grinder.

Entire companies were cut down to platoon strength. Riflemen crawled through volcanic ash under fire from every angle, engineers dragged flamethrowers and satchel charges against concrete walls that refused to break, and corpsmen pulled the wounded out of craters while shells burst overhead.

The Meat Grinder epitomized Iwo Jima: a place won not by a single breakthrough, but by relentless endurance, teamwork, and sacrifice.

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