The level of sacrifice made by the marines on Iwo Jima had a profound effect not just on public opinion in the United States but also on their fellow servicemen in the Pacific. Weeks after the island had been taken, Paul Montgomery and the rest of his bomber crew landed on Iwo Jima to refuel on their way back to base on the island of Tinian: ‘We were taxiing in and I passed right by a graveyard. There were an indescribable number of marker crosses. I couldn’t describe to you how affected I was. I had never seen 7000 markers before. And when I came to realize that they were just kids like myself and that they wouldn’t be going home...’