OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:07 PM – Saturday, March 29, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has praised the “shared warrior ethos” between the U.S. and Japan at a memorial service upon the site of the island battle.
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On Saturday, Hegseth joined other senior U.S. and Japanese officials in commemorating the bloody struggle’s 80th anniversary.
“Over 80,000 Marines, soldiers, and sailors from our two countries fought at Iwo Jima. More than 26,000 died here. Today, we revere their courage. Today, we remember their valor and sacrifice,” Hegseth said during the service.
“Iwo Jima embodies our shared devotion to the nation, and to duty and our shared reverence for the men of valor who preceded us,” he continued.
Hegseth was joined by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, and other officials at the Reunion of Honor event. Six veterans, all around 100 years old, also attended the memorial.
Hegseth stated that the two nations’ alliance, which is more important than ever given China’s growing threat, is the “cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security, and peace in the Indo-Pacific.”
“The U.S.-Japan alliance shows how yesterday’s enemy has become today’s friends,” he added.
Hegseth is set to hold talks with Nakatani in Tokyo to discuss further strengthening the US-Japan alliance on Sunday.
Prime Minister Ishiba said “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.”
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