The Battle of Iwo Jima began on February 19, 1945 and was officially declared
ended with the securing of the island on March 26. The five week battle to
capture the island from the Japanese Imperial Army comprised some of the
fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific during World War II.

1945 issue, commemorative stamp

The first definitive series of U.S. postage stamps offered iconic American
pictorial images other than portraits of statesmen (above). The scenes
included the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and even an image
of an American Buffalo. At first the general public disapproved of the
stamps, complaining that the scenes were no substitute for images of
presidents.

A later issue of the stamps presented pictorial images only on the higher-
value stamps, the more commonly used dominations of 12 cents and
lower, along with the traditional portraits.