Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Group. This is a fantastic grouping of items having been found at Iwo Jima, collected in March 2002. The items include a ceramic grenade and some heavily oxidized cartridges and shells. All ammunition and field gun rounds are totally inert in this lot and cannot be rendered live again. They are in compliance per the current BATF standards on inert ordnance ownership. Not Available For Export.

The items in the lot include:

- Type 90 Army Relic Helmet with Partial Star. This helmet is still very solid, and the star is retained, although several of the points are heavily worn down. Two of the rings which hold the suspension/liner in are retained, but the entire interior is oxidized.
- Japanese WWII Canteen with Kanji markings on both sides, no harness or cap.
- Japanese WWII Ceramic grenade with very little color left, body is still very solid. A great example overall.
- Two large caliber rounds still in their metal belt clip, heavy oxidized all around. 
- A small bag of projectiles, hooks, and other small dug bits and pieces.
- A small vial of sand with the label Iwo Jima Sand Invasion Beach Collected March 2002.

A fantastic lot of items recovered from Iwo Jima, ready for further research and display.

The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.

The Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of tunnels. The American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery and had complete air supremacy provided by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators throughout the battle. The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.

The Japanese combat deaths numbered three times the number of American deaths, but uniquely among Pacific War Marine battles, the American total casualties (dead and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured only because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. Most of the remainder were killed in action, but it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards until they eventually succumbed to their injuries or surrendered weeks later. Despite the fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the American victory was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in numbers and arms, air supremacy, the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement, and sparse food and supplies for the Japanese, permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Japanese could have won the battle.

The action was controversial, with retired Chief of Naval Operations William V. Pratt stating that the island was useless to the Army as a staging base, and useless to the Navy as a fleet base. The Japanese continued to have early-warning radar from Rota island, which was never invaded. Experiences with previous Pacific island battles suggested that the island would be well-defended and thus casualties would be significant. Joe Rosenthal's Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag at the top of the 169 m (554 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman became a famous image of the battle and the American war effort in the Pacific.