The above rah-rah World War II propaganda tune was "There'll Be A Little Smokio in Tokio" by Don Baker and it can be downloaded HERE.
On this weekend in 1945 at the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines (from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Division) took the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island's highest peak and raised the American flag.
Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and recorded the event. Soldiers fighting for control of Suribachi's slopes cheered the raising of the flag, and several hours later more Marines headed up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, met them along the way and recorded the raising of the second flag along with a Marine still photographer and a motion-picture cameraman.
Rosenthal took three photographs atop Suribachi. The first, which showed five Marines and one Navy corpsman struggling to hoist the heavy flag pole, became the most reproduced photograph in history and won him a Pulitzer Prize.
Regarding Rosenthal's other two photos: The second was similar to the first but less affecting and the third was a group picture of 18 soldiers smiling and waving for the camera. Many of these men, including three of the six soldiers seen raising the flag in the famous Rosenthal photo, were killed before the conclusion of the Battle for Iwo Jima in late March.
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As a Navy Corpsman who has served with the Marine Corps infantry 3 tours in Iraq, this photo means a lot to me. The story of the Iwo flag raisers is a sad one, and most ended up in obscurity or in the case of one, drunk and dead in a ditch within a few years. John Bradley was an amazing man, and I am proud to claim him as a predecessor and legacy to all Fleet Marine Force Corpsman
ReplyDeleteBeing a former Marine, the history of the Corps means a great deal to me. In fact, I think that is what makes us different from the rest. This photo, of course is part of that history. There isn't a current or former Marine who can't tell you when and where the Marine Corps was founded. Nobody else can do it, but we can! Nov. 10, 1775 at Tun Tavern NJ.
ReplyDeleteSorry! I don't know how this comment got so big...