ELLSWORTH – Feb. 19, 1945.

It was the day Allied forces invaded the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles of the war in the Pacific, and one of the most critical for Allied success in the Pacific.

More U.S. Marines died in that battle than in any other during their 200-year history.

Del Merrill of Ellsworth was among those who survived, and he helps tell the story in a new historical film produced by Steven Spielberg’s studio and historian Stephen Ambrose. Merrill served for years as president of Husson College and is now president of Merrill’s Blueberry Farms in Hancock.

In World War II, he was assigned to the 5th Marine Division, one of three Marine divisions that hit the beaches that day and fought through withering fire from the Japanese who had dug into the island.

Iwo Jima was considered a strategic island because of its location midway between Japan and U.S. bomber bases in the Mariana Islands. It was Japanese home soil, located just 650 miles from Tokyo, and the invasion marked the first capture of Japanese land by the Allies.

Capture of the island also provided a base for escort planes that accompanied the Allied bombers, as well as an emergency base where damaged bombers could land for repairs. Occupying that island saved the lives of thousands of bomber crews, but the island didn’t come cheap: The Japanese had prepared for the attack and had built 800 pillboxes into the volcanic soil and dug more than three miles of tunnels on the island that measured just 8 square miles.

“We started landing and there was no resistance,” Merrill recalled. “The second wave went in, the third wave, fourth, fifth, sixth wave. Then, when we were all bunched up there on the beach, all hell broke loose. They were on the high ground in the hills around the beach, and they hit us with everything. There was so much litter on the beach and so many dead bodies that the landing craft couldn’t get onto the beach. We had to go over the side into 4 feet of water.”

Merrill was assigned to an attack squad as a flamethrower.

“There were 18 flamethrowers in my regiment,” he said. “There was only one other guy and I who weren’t hit. Most of them were killed.”

Although the historic raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi took place on Feb. 23, 1945, it actually took 36 days to secure the island.

Now, more than 55 years later, Merrill has joined other survivors from both sides of the Pacific war to help Spielberg, Ambrose and the DreamWorks studios tell the story of that war.

The resulting feature-length documentary film, “Price for Peace,” had its premiere earlier this month at the “D-Day Invasions of the Pacific” exhibit at the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.

Merrill’s involvement with the film began last January with a phone call from his former commanding officer, who told him that Ambrose was trying to find veterans who had fought in the Pacific and would be willing to be interviewed.

Merrill said he would be willing to talk about his experiences, and about a week later he received a call from Ambrose’s son, Hugh.

“We did a phone interview for about three hours,” Merrill said. “I think he knew more about me than I did by the time we were done.”

Before he knew it, Merrill and his wife were on their way to the DreamWorks studios in California, where Merrill met Ambrose and director Jim Moll. The filming took place Feb. 19, 56 years to the day after the Iwo Jima D-Day.

“I don’t know if they planned it that way or not,” Merrill said. “They made it very easy. The crew were just super people, the technicians.”

Merrill said he was surprised at how young they all were.

Their visit to DreamWorks included a tour of the studio, although they did not meet Spielberg.

Ambrose interviewed Merrill for about three hours on film during that visit.

“It was all very exciting,” he said. “They showed us a private room where Spielberg does all his interviews. He pointed out a lamp, and told me to watch for it whenever Spielberg is interviewed. If we see the lamp, we’ll know he’s in that room.”

Just a few weeks ago, on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Merrills attended the opening of the Pacific Wing at the National D-Day Museum.

The opening was a three-day affair that included a huge parade to honor veterans of the Pacific war. The parade literally “shut down the city,” Merrill said.

“Everyone was waving and thanking the people for their part in the war,” he said. “The most memorable part for me – it was a real tear-jerker – was the kids from the schools. This was a motorized parade and we were all riding in trucks. The kids came by each truck, thanked the veterans and then sang “God Bless America.” I’ll tell you there were a lot of tears there.”

That evening featured the black-tie premiere of the film.

His first appearance in the film caught him by surprise, Merrill said.

“Of course, I didn’t know what was going to be put in. I knew that I was not going to say exactly what they wanted. The first thing I saw was a picture of me as a young man [in uniform]. And I was talking a bit before they showed me being interviewed. It stunned me for a minute. It took me a minute to realize what I was saying.”

The film chronicles the Pacific Theater of World War II from the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the U.S. occupation in 1945, according to information provided by DreamWorks. The documentary consists of interviews with war veterans, both U.S. and Japanese, from all branches of the military, and others.

“It’s one of the most moving films you’d ever want to see,” said Merrill. “It was extremely well done.”

DreamWorks made two versions of the film, according to associate producer Christopher Pavlick. A 40-minute version is playing every hour at the D-Day museum, he said. Videotapes of that version are available from the museum, he added.

Merrill said he already has ordered several copies of the video for family members.

DreamWorks hopes to market the longer version of the documentary for theatrical release in what Pavlick said likely would be a limited market, probably reaching major cities.