A Marine escorts Battle of Iwo Jima veterans during the Reunion of Honor ceremony March 25, 2023, at Iwo Jima, Japan. (Sebastian Rivera-Aponte/U.S. Marine Corps)

Former enemies turned allies returned to the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima on Saturday to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the bloody 36-day fight 78 years ago.

Approximately 220 visitors from the U.S. and Japan, including Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, attended the annual Reunion of Honor ceremony commemorating the pivotal World War II clash.

Between 80 to 100 members of Japanese families who lost loved ones on Iwo Jima and several of the dwindling number of U.S. veterans of the battle were present for the hour-long ceremony, according to Japanese and U.S. spokesmen.

Speakers from both nations evoked the memory of thousands of dead on both sides while touting the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Emanuel, in his address, called the alliance the “envy of the world.” He reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to “peace, prosperity, and possibility” between the two countries.

“The idea that American and Japanese forces would one day train together, serve together and sacrifice together would have once been prohibitive,” Emanuel said, according to a copy of his remarks provided by the embassy. “We chose to make it possible.”

The Battle of Iwo Jima began with an amphibious assault by Marines on Feb. 19, 1945, following months of aerial and naval bombardment. The Japanese had dug a defensive labyrinth of tunnels into the island rock.

Of 70,000 Marines that fought there, more than 6,800 were killed and 19,000 were wounded. On the Japanese side, about 18,000 were killed. Only 216 were captured.

A color guard of U.S. Marines and Japan Self-Defense Force members stand at the Reunion of Honor ceremony at Iwo Jima, also referred to as Iwo To, Japan, on March 25, 2023. (Sebastian Rivera-Aponte/U.S. Marine Corps)

Marines, including Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy Black, left, escort a Battle of Iwo Jima veteran during the Reunion of Honor ceremony March 25, 2023, at Iwo Jima, Japan. (III Marine Expeditionary Force via Twitter)

Japanese visitors pray at a war memorial atop Mount Suribachi dedicated to Japan's war dead from the Battle of Iwo Jima during the Reunion of Honor ceremony March 25, 2023, at Iwo Jima, Japan. (Japan Ministry of Defense)

The flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, photographed by The Associated Press’ Joe Rosenthal, helped rally U.S. support for the war effort and became an iconic symbol of American sacrifice and courage.

Attendees took their seats under tents surrounding the Reunion of Honor monument on the island’s southern point, overlooking the beach where some of the battle’s heaviest fighting occurred, Isao Yamaki, secretary general of Japan’s Iwo Jima Association, told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.

An unspecified number of U.S. veterans took part in the memorial, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Johnny Coronel said by email Tuesday.

Yoshitaka Shindo, grandson of Japanese garrison commander Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, delivered remarks, Yamaki said.

The annual ceremony is a reminder that war must be avoided “at all costs,” Berger told attendees, according to a III Marine Expeditionary Force statement Sunday.

Kenji Yamada, Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, paid tribute to the fallen but then turned to the existing security environment in the Indo-Pacific, which he called “the most challenging and complex” in recent memory.

“The peace and prosperity we enjoy today is built on the precious sacrifices of those who lost their lives,” he said. He pledged to work with the U.S. to “make a tireless effort to achieve peace and prosperity” in the region.