US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth honoured the fallen soldiers of World War II during a memorial service on Iwo Jima, marking a significant moment in his first trip to Japan on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. Hegseth, who recently visited the Philippines, joined veterans, Japanese officials, and families to commemorate the sacrifices made during the bloody battle of Iwo Jima, one of the fiercest confrontations of the war.
“Iwo Jima embodies our shared warrior ethos, our shared devotion to the nation, and to duty and our shared reverence for the men of valor who preceded us,” AP quoted Hegseth as saying.
His visit to the island, now known as Iwoto, comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific, with Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea and trade threats from President Donald Trump looming over US-China relations. As part of his diplomatic mission, Hegseth expressed his commitment to strengthening the US-Japan alliance, a partnership he described as the “cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security, and peace in the Indo-Pacific.”
“The US-Japan alliance shows … how yesterday’s enemy has become today’s friends,” Hegseth said, according to AP.
The service, which is part of the annual “Reunion of Honor” event, brought together a number of American veterans who had survived the battle, along with Japanese bereaved families. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, and other officials were also present to mark the occasion.
Ishiba, the first serving Japanese prime minister to attend the joint memorial, emphasised the importance of peace and the strength of the US-Japan relationship. “We must not forget that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today have been built upon the noble sacrifices of those who died in the war and the tireless efforts of the people over the past 80 years since the end of the war,” Ishiba reportedly said.
ReiteratingJapan’s commitment to peace, he urged the world to remember the lessons of history, saying, “We must continue to endeavour to humbly face the history and keep telling the harrowing experience of the war to the world so that we never repeat the tragedy of war.”
The Battle of Iwo Jima, which took place between February 19 and March 26, 1945, is one of the most iconic moments of World War II, largely due to the famous photograph of six Marines raising the US flag atop Mount Suribachi, the report said. During the battle, approximately 70,000 American troops fought against entrenched Japanese defenders, with nearly 7,000 Marines and about 20,000 Japanese soldiers losing their lives. To this day, more than half of the remains of the Japanese soldiers remain unaccounted for.
Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Japan’s defense minister Nakatani to further discuss the strengthening of bilateral ties.
