An Unseen Enemy
Iwo Jima means “sulfur island,” and the rotten egg smell of sulfur gas pouring out of steaming rock beds permeated the air. By the time the Marines landed there was practically no vegetation remaining over a moonscape of cratered volcanic sand and rocky ridges. They soon realized that they were engaged in a two-dimensional battle. They were fighting
on Iwo Jima, whereas the Japanese defenders were under Iwo Jima. The island had been turned into one of the greatest underground fortresses ever seen.
For months Korean laborers, military engineers and demolition experts had built fortified positions and interconnecting tunnels throughout the island, stocked with ammunition and food. The Japanese soldiers waited in these mutually supporting underground fortifications for the Americans to come to them. Each had a printed “battle vow” before him in his cave: “Each man will make it his duty to kill ten of the enemy before dying.”509
For the Marines, this was largely a battle against an unseen enemy. One historian remarked, “There were Marines who fought on Iwo Jima for the entire six-week campaign who never saw a living enemy soldier.”510 One Marine said, “It was an eerie landscape. While you couldn’t see them, you had a feeling that the Japanese had you always in their sights.”511
Christians also face an enemy that amazingly remains largely unseen in the world around them. Satan has succeeded in trivializing his own image to the extent that few take even his existence seriously. The little red figure with a pitchfork is more of a joke than a threat to anyone’s eternal survival. It is well to ponder the evil that we see at work in the world and how well organized it often seems to be. And we need to renew our understanding of this enemy’s nature through Scripture: “The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”(1 Peter 5:8). Knowledge of such an enemy is essential to our spiritual survival.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
—2 Corinthians 11:13–14
Marines advancing on difficult terrain. (National Archives)
Church service on Okinawa. (National Archives)