 Regardless, the popularity (mainly in Japan) of both men as defenders of Iwo Jima grew.An anecdote repeated by Kakehashi Kumiko in the February 2006 issue of "Bungei Shunju" magazine is that in the final days of the battle, as the number of commanding officers who refused to put their men in caves increased, Nishi agreed that they should go out and fight together.In the 2006 movie, Nishi uses some of the scarce medical supplies on a wounded US Marine he is questioning.