up next on a second look, the war in the pacific. one of the bloodiest battles. and the man behind one of the most memorable photos of the war. plus how a language was used to get these philipino fighters

their citizenship. as they do every year, marine veterans of the battle of euagima return. 6,800 americans would die. more than 1,900 others would be wounded. in 2000, ktvu's george watson brought us this look back at the battle. >> what made this island dying for? the giant b29 bombers on their

daily sortese over japan. 60,000 marines were sent ashore to get their regime. a fact the marines discovered as soon as they hit. >> the hail of fire was so heavy it was incredible. i mean bullets zipping by, snapped and popped as they broke the sound barrier. the crunch of the artillery. you're almost numb. >> the first day, the people that were at shore were calling out for blood. so-- you knew that it was probably bad when it was only three or four hours into battle and they were asking for blood. >> i was with the 20 regime. we lost all our officers.

>> looking behind you, over your shoulders and in the sky. you just heard bombs hitting, the shells, you never knew if your name was on that one or not. >> reporter: we don't know what happened, but we watch video to understand it. reporters went with soldiers and were our eyes. joe rosenthal was among the best of the photographers. >> the sounds of course and smells. and clouds of smoke and shouts, calls. your intent of getting on to the island. >> reporter: there were 5,000 fortified caves, mountains and pill boxes. a 1,000 of them on mount jeribachi. it was the marines job.

>> the worse was to seal up the boxes and seal up the caves. >> reporter: the marines finally made it to the top and the first american flag was planted. it was a small flag, perhaps 2'3", they tied that to a water pipe. >> there was the first flag raising. >> reporter: joe rosenthal reached the top and witnessed the planting of a second flag. big enough for all the soldiers to see with the naked eye. rosenthal found himself at the right place at the right time and instantly took what is likely the most famous picture of world war ii. >> i had time only for that one quick shot. i just hoped and prayed that i got what i thought i saw in the

finder. >> what he got was a photograph that seemed to convey a message to the rest of the country. these are the men that america sent to war and this is the job they're being asked to do. >> every time i see that same picture, i look at it, i see indeed a -- with guys falling around. with all the noise and the high pierced calls for the core men. >> reporter: marine commander hollis smith said the battle for was the hardest. another 18,000 were wounded. it took 36 days to secure.

nemitz said that it was where uncommon valor was uncommon virtue. >> you think about those who are still buried in the island. and you also feel a little guilt because you made it and they didn't and you wonder why you. >> reporter: the picture taken does not answer those kind of questions. but with a flicker, in that moment, he captured something that still to now lingers. offering us perhaps some idea why it all had to happen. >> still to come on a second look, the japanese american soldiers who served in the pacific. >> plus they spoke in an unwritten american indian language and became a crucial

part of the american battle. ♪ you treat every minute like it's a chance to do something.

so you're always moving. constantly searching for the next opportunity to make the most of what life has to offer. your time is valuable. so you reach for something better. fewer calories. fewer carbs. more to experience. michelob ultra. the superior light beer.

tonight on a second look, remembering the world war ii battles in the pacific. among those who served in japan were the nesay. second generation americans of japanese decent. in 1971 george watson brought us this second look back at their struggles at home and service overseas. >> pearl harbor was attacked, there were approximately 5,000nese's serving. almost immediately the military made it perfectly clear what they thought about their japanese american soldiers. >> the neses all their weapons were taken away. our rifles were taken away. and then we were shipped to the midwest. >> then the backlash fell upon the civilians of japanese ancestry. all those living on the west coast were by government order gathered up and shipped off to internment catches. allowed only the possessions

they could carry they were sent to camps throughout the midwest. their official status was not prisoner, not internees but rather dislocated people. these dislocated people actually had a value to the army. they spoke japanese. now it was up to the army to turn that ability into a military asset. >> i spent three months interned. in november of 1942 i went to the camp savage. >> reporter: camp savage would be a school of language.

these represented a way out of the camp, a better hand to play. >> rather than spending the rest of the duration pitching coal, there's something better than this. so i says, i volunteer and i will take the test. >> i jumped at the chance because i figured that, inspite of the fact that i was interned that i considered the united states as my country. >> reporter: after completing the school, the new nisey soldiers were part of the intelligence service. they would be interpreters of the pacific theater of war. when first assigned to combat areas their commanders didn't know what to do with them. >> they asked us what we would be doing there. wetold them we're linguist,

we're interpreters. they said we do not take in -- >> at first they were surprised that someone who looked japanese and spoke japanese were americans and were in the american army. when they heard i speaked japanese and i looked like them. they felt relaxed, the relieved that think weren't dealing with harry barbarians. >> the contribution of the american born japanese nese can never be overlooked. it is the irony of their unselfish contribution though that has placed their military service in such lofty but uncommon status. after all, when they volunteered to fight for their

country, the families they left behind were still defining home and hearth by the barb wire encircle their internment camps. when fighters went to iwo jima it was the only code of japanese never broke. hollywood produce add movie about the code talkers. allison burns was there. >> reporter: there's a last living navajo code talkers. american heros who developed the only code the japanese could not break in world war ii. during the nation's capital joined by hollywood stars and government leaders at the world premier of the new story that

tells their story. >> if you got caught the code would be useless. >> their involvement was instrumental in winning the war. what they were able to do was expedite medical aid and air strikes and it had a lot to do with our victory. >> reporter: for a long time america kept code talkers a secret. only recently have they been recognized for their contributions. >> when they came i didn't know anything about military policy or nothing. but i do know there was a war going on. >> reporter: soon brown and dozens of others from the navajo nation became invaluable to the navajo nature. despite the brutality their families suffered, they considered themselves proud to serve the nation. >> it was one of the best things i've ever happened to my tribe. when we come back on a

second look, president roosevelt promised them american citizenship if they fought for the united states. why it took nearly half a century to keep that promise. remembering vj day. how san francisco celebrated the end of the the second world war i.

welcome back to a second look. tonight world war ii in the pacific. when filipinos followed commanders they went with a promise from president roosevelt that they would become united states citizens. but that promise was not fulfilledded for years.

filipino soldiers were waiting for dream, they were about to become american citizens. those men and 300,000 other filipino militants fought in baton and they fought in corrigidor. president roosevelt promised the filipinos and other soldiers united states citizenship but it never happened for the filipinos because the japanese occupied their country for much of the war. >> there were 1 million filipinos in world war ii fighting for -r -- fighting for the american flag. >> it has created a loss of faith for america. it's partly because of this dishonored promises. >> reporter: after 45 years of court battles, immigration law

was finally changed last year. especially to allow filipino soldiers to become u.s. citizens. >> it's a great opportunity for me. i've been waiting for a long time. for 14 years i've missed my family. >> i served in the u.s. army that's why. and i love my, america is number one. more benefits, more money. because we're dying already. we need that. >> ♪ >> reporter: as these new citizens sang the national anthem and as they raise their hands and swore allegiance to america, many had tears in their eyes. it's been a long wait. >> you know it hurts. definitely. it hurts. >> one of the real tragedies of

this story is that there were a couple of men who were finally about to become american citizens after all these years. we're told they were really looking forward to it. but they didn't make it today. the years caught up with them. their dreams will never be realized. for these men, the survivors, citizenship has come to late but it has come. >> ♪ when we come back on a second look. the day the war ended. and how san francisco and the nation celebrated. that's why we are supplying natural gas, to generate cleaner electricity, that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal.

let's broaden the world's energy mix, let's go. yeah, citi mobile. pay the dog sitter? and deposit that check? citi mobile. pack your bathing suit? wearing it. niiice bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app. take the nestea plunge. nothing refreshes like nestea.

welcome back to a second look. tonight we remember world war ii and the battles in the pacific. this is one of the most famous photographs of its generation.

a sailor kissing a nurse in the midst of a celebration in new york's time square. that scene nearly 69 years ago captured the joy of a nation that had just gotten the news. four long years of war were over. the japanese had surrendered and world war ii had come to an end. it's difficult for younger generations to comprehend how much world war ii had consumed american society. nearly every knew someone who died in the war. and nearly everyone back home had done what he or she could do to help the war effort. that's why there was such a celebration when the fighting was over. 14 years ago, ktvu's bob mackenzie brought us this look back at august 14, 1945. the day the war ended. >> 7:00 p.m. eastern wartime. the japanese have accepted our terms fully. that's the word we just received from the white house in washington. this ladies and gentlemen is

the end of the second world war i. >> 55 years later it's hard for us to imagine the wave of relief and joy that spread across the world on august 14, 1945. the long bloody fight was over. really over. in san francisco crowds filled the streets. bankers and street sweepers, nurses, people from all walks of life wanting to be together and share the moment. pat caster was the manager of the imporium's book department. when she left work, she stepped into chaos. >> it was joyful. but i felt very strongly that i had to get home. as long as things were running. i wasn't frightened. i was afraid that my cable car might be pushed over or not --

where i couldn't get home. >> reporter: unis jones was 13 then and after school helped his father in their restaurant. the crowds that day were so big, the restaurant ran out of food. she went home to china town. >> i went home and there were fire crackers. i understood that went on all day while celebrating. >> reporter: at centers, wives and girlfriends tossed confetti at one another. their men were alive and would be coming home. in new york an unprecedented crowd packed every inch of time square and spread up broadway and up 42nd street. people who didn't drink got drunk. people who held back their tears for years let them go.

new york held a ruckus as never before. >> my name is rita hayward, this is a great day. >> reporter: in the united states, perhaps the san francisco bay area felt the most relief. this was the major u.s. city closest to the war in the pacific. here soldiers had killed time while waiting to be shipped out to war. here soldiers got ready for an attack on our ports. for years, people practiced a black out. the attack never came but they could have. >> we had to shut down everything. we had blind. you never even come out of your house with a cigarette. one time in the black out, i

saw fire trucks moving to the presidio. they blacked it out so that planes could not see that movement. >> reporter: men and women put down their tools and walked away. in the process america had become a industrial giant but no one was thinking about that yet. the world was over and the boys were coming home. over the last few months they came cruising into san francisco bay. cocky survivors of the biggest war in history. if they had been scared out there nobody would know about it. it was time to kiss the girls and think about the future. but for some, the war could not be finishedded. not layed to rest until the dead came home. it was a long wait but on october 10, 1947 the ships carrying soldiers bodies steamed slowly into san francisco harbor. a few of the bay area citizens lining the marina were there to receive the body of a son or

husband. but most were there simply to show respect for these young men who had given up their lives. the world had freed itself from japanese imperialism and nazi brutality but at such a horrible cost. 292,000 american men killed at battle. wives had become widows. dreams shattered. it left scars on the memories of all of those who lived through it. world war ii will only be over until nobody ever remembers it. >> that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener. thank you for watching. down. i'm going to have to guide her in manually. come again? i'm watching this on the train. it's so hard to leave. good luck with everything.

watch tv virtually anywhere with the u-verse tv app. with at&t, the u-verse revolves around you.

hello, everybody. i'm beth troutman. if you like great videos, you're going to love the ones you're about to see "right this minute." a rogue driver creates outrage on the internet. >> are you going to pull me over, officer? hold on. >> now get the story behind the videoro the m eel. >> can youell us? is it real or not? >> rescuers hear noises beneath a mudslide. >> whatever is in there has been in there for 18 hours. see the miracle that got out alive. cops s