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D Plus 17 (D+17), 8 March, 1945 - The Assault of Iwo Jima |
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Page 4 of 6 25th Marines - D plus 17, 8 March 1945. During the early part of the night of 7-8 March a very heavy rocket and mortar barrage fell in the lines of BLT-1 killing 10 and wounding seven more. The remainder of the night was marked only by light mortar fire and a few infiltration attempts. Div Op Or No. 17-45 ordered a continuation of the attack with the same scheme of maneuver as for the preceding day. K?hour was set at 0750 and the 4th Mar Div attack was set at k minus 90 (0620). No advance was made in the zone of RCT-25 (Div Recon Co attached) since RCT-24 did not move its right flank. BLT-1/25 employed flamethrower and medium tanks on its right flank forward of Turkey Knob to destroy any emplacements that could be located. The Prov Bn continued burning off the area within the gap in the same fashion as on the previous day. At 1445, an extremely heavy mortar barrage was placed on the left of BLT-1/25 zone causing a number of casualties and making it necessary for the left Co to be relieved. BLT-1/25 throughout the day received MG and very accurate sniper fire particularly from the high ground on its left flank.
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