List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Iwo Jima

Medal of Honor
All recipients
American Civil War
By surname A–F G–L M–P Q–S T–Z By battle Gettysburg Campaign Battle of the Wilderness Third Battle of Winchester Battle of Cedar Creek Second Battle of Fort Fisher Others 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Other wars and conflicts
Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Boxer Rebellion Veracruz World War I World War II Battle of Iwo Jima Pearl Harbor Korean War Vietnam War Post-Vietnam Non-combat
By ethnic group
African American Asian American Hispanic and Latino American Irish American Italian American Jewish American Native American Polish-American Puerto Rican
By other criteria
Foreign-born Military Academy alumni Naval Academy alumni Tiffany Cross
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The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces. The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in February and March 1945 during World War II and was marked by some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The American invasion, known as Operation Detachment, was charged with capturing the airfields on Iwo Jima.

The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with vast bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 kilometers (11 mi) of tunnels. The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands, and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions to the death; of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, over 20,000 were killed and only 216 taken prisoner.

During the two-month-long battle, 27 U.S. military personnel were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions. Of the 27 medals awarded, 22 were presented to Marines and five were presented to United States Navy sailors, four of whom were Hospital Corpsmen, a petty officer rank identified in the table by the WWII-era rating title Pharmacist's Mate. This represents over 25% of the 82 Medals of Honor awarded to Marines,^[1] and four of the seven Medals of Honor awarded to Hospital Corpsmen, in the entirety of World War II. The 27 recipients held a wide range of ranks, from private to lieutenant colonel. Fourteen (52%) received their awards posthumously.