TOKYO -- On Sept. 23, a Panama-registered cargo ship had a medical emergency 670 km northeast of Iwo Jima, the Pacific island that gained notoriety for the fierce World War II battle fought there. At the ship's request, Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force dispatched a US-2 amphibian rescue aircraft from Iwakuni base, 1,360 km to the northwest of Iwo Jima on Japan's main Honshu island.
