The memoirs of Major Yoshitak Horie and the Battle of Iwo Jima * A
rare memoir from a Japanese officer who survived the Battle of Iwo
Jima
Fighting Spirit is essential reading for anyone interested in the
Battle of Iwo Jima and the Pacific War. Major Horie was one of only four
Japanese field grade officers directly associated with the Battle of Iwo Jima
who survived and the only officer known to have left memoirs.
Having served as a liaison officer with the Navy, Major Horie
described in detail the respective positions, ideas, and assumptions that both
the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy had when executing the Pacific War, the
personalities involved, and the challenges they faced. He was a specialist in
logistics and headed Lt. Gen. Kuribayashi’s detached headquarters on Chichi
Jima, located between Iwo Jima and mainland Japan. He was
however intimately involved in planning the battle, and used his experience as a
liaison to the Imperial Navy to share information and insights through his
contacts. He was also very much aware of the limits to Japan’s
strategy.
Fighting Spirit is an annotated translation of the memoirs of
Imperial Japanese Army Major Yoshitaka Horie, co-edited by a USMC veteran of the
Battle of Iwo Jima and an American academic who is a specialist on U.S.-Japan
relations. In addition to the 19 chapters of Horie’s original work, the book
includes an Editors’ Preface, which provides biographical information on Major
Horie and the context of the book, and two appendices of materials prepared by
Major Horie shortly after the end of the war.
