February 21, 1945; MARINE CASUALITIES HIGH AT IWO:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1945:

3063 Wounded Are Evacuated; Gains

Of Up to 1000 Yards Scored as Drive

Opens to Envelop Second AirStrip

WATERLOO, IOWA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1945

Marines Pay Heavily

    For First

      Two Days

Storm Second Airfield and

Launch Assault on

Volcano Fort.

Admiral Nimitz' Headquarters, Guam—(UP)—

American marines stormed Iwo's second air field "Wednesday, bypassing the southern tip and driving toward its heart from the south in a general advance averaging half a mile along the blazing island front.

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced on the third day of the invasion of the island springboard to Japan that the two marine divisions had suffered

3,650 casualties — killed,-wounded — or -missing-up~tb-8~am , Wednesday, and 3,063 of the wounded had been evacuated.

One hundred fifty of the casualties were officers.

A communique on the Iwo battle, the toughest in the long history of the marine corps, said the two divisions were slugging forward yard by yard against heavy machine gun, mortar, small; arms,and rocket fire. "

Fight Along Coast

Maj. Gen. Keller E. " Hotkey's Fifth division hammered up the west coast' of Iwo beyond -the lower end of the runways  of 'the last air field remaining ,in 'Japanese, hands.

Marines Face Bloody Task

to Take Mortar Mountain

By LISLE SHOEMAKER

"With Marine Assault Forces on Iwo Jima- - (UP)—

Marines who fought their way up from the beaches to the slopes of formidable Mt. Suribachi call this ugly volcano "mortar mountain" because of the murderous fire the Japs have been pouring out of the caves and hidden defenses.

These marines have been under fire from the guns and mortars on Suribachi ever since they jumped from their alligators onto the sand at "Green Beach" on the southermost part of the island.

They found no cover in the entire landing beach area. However, early waves found little resistance from three stair-stepped plateaus directly above the invasion beach.

CITY CUT OFF

From Berlin

By Red Army

Nazi Broadcast Says Bulk of

Population Has Fled Before

Enemies.

London — (AP) —

Marshal

Gregory Zhukov's troops , fighting to encircle Frankfurt on the Oder 38 miles east of Berlin, have '"'temporarily" slashed the city's lifelines to the capital, a German military commentator said Wednesday.

The fortress town on the west bank of the Oder is under siege and the constant hammering of Russian artillery and bombers, said the report from inside the city by Transocean War Reporter Hans Arntz.

His broadcast coincided with a military review in the Moscow newspaper Pravda which said the 'Red army was 34 miles from Berlin.

This report, the closest the Russian press has yet placed the Russian troops to Berlin, did not give the point of the penetration, but indicated it was in Zhukov's sector and possibly west of the Oder.