Documentary records return to Iwo Jima

Carol Fleisher, left, speaks to Tsuruji Akikusa, seen with Japanese crew producer Nao Uemura, during the 70th annual Reunion of the Honor on March 21 on Iwo Jima, Japan. Akikusa is one of the last surviving Japanese defenders of the island, scene of one of World War II’s most brutal battles, and is featured in Fleisher’s new film “Iwo Jima: From Combat to Comrades” which airs Tuesday. She lives in Durango.

Courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Devon Tindle

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Carol Fleisher, left, speaks to Tsuruji Akikusa, seen with Japanese crew producer Nao Uemura, during the 70th annual Reunion of the Honor on March 21 on Iwo Jima, Japan. Akikusa is one of the last surviving Japanese defenders of the island, scene of one of World War II’s most brutal battles, and is featured in Fleisher’s new film “Iwo Jima: From Combat to Comrades” which airs Tuesday. She lives in Durango.

Courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Devon Tindle

Herald Staff

The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most brutal of World War II.

About 28,000 of the 90,000 combatants died either defending or trying to take the 8-square-mile island.

Most remember only the iconic photograph of a group of Marines raising the American flag.

Durangoan Carol Fleisher, who produced and directed last year’s “Navy (Sea, Air and Land Teams): Their Untold Story” has a new documentary airing on PBS just in time for Veterans Day, “Iwo Jima: From Combat to Comrades.”

Two film crews, one American and one Japanese, followed veterans returning to the battlefield where they once fought each other for a time of remembrance and reconciliation.