Flamethrowers - Easy Targets at Iwo Jima

Flamethrowers at Iwo Jima were easy targets for Japanese defenders:

Flamethrower teams look like futuristic fighters as they leave their assembly area heading for the frontlines. The casualty rate for flamethrower operators was high, since they were prime targets for Japanese fire because of the profile they had with the flamethrowers strapped to their backs. When they fell, others took their places.

Credits

Photo from the Colonel William P. McCahill Collection, featured in Closing In:  Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, by Col. Joseph H. Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), at page 24.  Part of the Marines in World War II Commemorative Series.