World War II Database

The island of Iwo Jima, recently receiving a pronunciation correction to Ioto in 2007, saw the recent discovery of two mass graves as reported by Japanese officials on 22 Oct 2010. The Kyodo news agency estimated that the larger of the two sites might hold the remains of up to 2,000 Japanese soldiers and the smaller up to 200, but the Japanese health ministry declined to comment on the size of these graves, noting that only 51 bodies had been recovered. The island was defended by a 21,000-strong garrison that fought nearly to the last man in Feb and Mar 1945; less than 1,000 Japanese survived the battle, and the remains of more than half of the 20,000 killed were never found. The current discovery would represent a large step toward finding those that are still listed as missing in action.

For more information:
MSNBC: Mass graves discovered on Iwo Jima
WW2DB: Battle of Iwo Jima
WW2DB: Japan Changes Iwo Jima Pronunciation to Ioto

Special thanks goes to WW2DB contributor Jimmy Lebel for sharing the news of this discovery.