To support the B-29 Superfortress armada gathered on Guam, Saipan and Tinian, American P-51 fighter pilots based on Iwo Jima flew “very long range (VLR) missions against the Japanese home islands from Iwo Jima beginning April 7, 1945. Missions covered the 675 miles between Iwo Jima and Tokyo, often flying through monsoon storms, the men stayed strapped into their cockpits for eight hours or more.