U.S. AND JAPAN VETERANS RECALL IWO JIMA BATTLE

"Truly, memories of the tragic Battle of Iwo Jima have faded away through generations," Kiyoshi Endo, 82, chairman of the Iwo Jima Veterans Association, said at the joint U.S.-Japanese ceremony.

"Our responsibilities and duties are to dedicate the rest of our lives to passing our memories on to our next generations, so that a tragic battle of this kind will never be repeated," added Endo, the only Japanese veteran able to attend.

Only about 1,000 Japanese survived the fighting. Of those just a handful are still alive.

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