The black sand gave no cover.

The terrain provided the defenders with every advantage.

Marines crossed open ground under fire and died.

They used flamethrowers and explosives to clear bunkers one at a time.

They lost men to fire from positions they couldn’t see, to snipers, to grenades rolled down slope, to the specific lethal ingenuity of a garrison that had prepared for exactly this assault.

Ira Hayes was in it.