75th anniversary of U.S. forces raising a flag on Iwo Jima
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Brave Men All.
My Dad fought in the Pacific Theatre. (As well as Korea & Vietnam.)
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It's recently been said that neither Bradley nor Gagnon were the Marines pictured in the Rosenthal photograph, that they were misidentified. I really don't know the quality of that argument and it makes no difference in the guts and determination they showed that day. One of the highlights of my grade school education was knowing that in senior year history class we could get a visit from Rene Gagnon, his nephew (or cousin, don't recall) was our teacher. As teenagers we didn't know of the difficulties he had after WWII. I wish I had a video of the class that day, it's been almost 50 years & memory is starting to fade. 0 -
My father fought on Iwo Jima and then was at the occupation of Japan after the war. Can you imagine being in Japan with the same people that tried to kill you. I was one of those family's who didn't know any thing about what he did during the war just that he said he was in it. After his death we were given his military medical records and I also sent away to get his full USMC military records.found out just how bad it was for him. My mother told me he was friends with the flag raiser named Hayes. Hayes once came to visit my dad, Hayes and my father disappeared for over a week.
Here is some of the information I found in his medical records;5th Marine Division 28th Marines 1st Section Mortar Platoon, I/28
He enlisted in the service at the age of 17. He completed basic training at San Diego CA prior to serving throughout the South Pacific with the Marines. He was in actual combat on a number of islands, especially Iwo Jima. He suffered severe injuries from a mine explosion and major head and leg lacerations from a mortar blast. The medical records also stated that my father was very reluctant to talk about specific events which were traumatic and would say that "it was all the same."
In one event he was sent with six other men to blow up a cave. One of the first guys who went into the cave stepped on a mine. My father who was at the mouth of the cave was blown 30 feet out. No one survived except my father and another man whose legs were blown off. He was then requested to report aboard a hospital ship but felt he did not want to leave his outfit so continued fighting. Another experience was when he and another Marine were hiding behind a large rock he told the other man not to stick his head out from behind the rock. The other man did as my father said for a while but curiosity got the better of him, he stuck his head out, and was shot through both sides of the mouth. My father had to drag the wounded Marine back through a hail of machine gun fire to get medical help. In another event, Japan soldiers dressed in Marine clothing slipped into his camp and slit the throats of about 100 fellow Marines.
After returning home from the war Doctors evaluating him think that this was only a small fraction of what
really happened. My father was exposed to 33 straight days of combat. He was later administered the Mississippi Scale for Combat-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the Combat Exposure Scale. He scored "Heavy" (most extreme) level of combat exposure.0 -
M88 those were truely a different generation, they grew up knowing it was just something they had to do. I had an uncle on Iwo Jima, he got wounded and sent back stateside to recoupe, sat out the rest of the war, I think he was more pissed about having to sit it out than getting shot. He too didn't think he had done much....... 0 -
My old man was with the 1st Marine Division from Guadalcanal to Peleliu. Peleliu was the meat grinder for the First Division. My dad landed with Chesty Puller's First Marines. The First Marines eventually took 70% casualties...the 7th Marines took about 46% casualties, and the 5th Marines took app. 56% casualties. For an average of 56% casualties for the Division. The sad part, is the battle wasn't necessary. It foreshadowed what was to come on Iwo Jima... 0 -
There is much evidence that the most well known photograph of the flag raising was at least the 3rd reenactment of the event for the combat photography folk - that the original flag raising was not captured on camera and not all the original participating men were used in the "staged" pics
That's not a knock on the men or their sacrifice - and it's nothing new. Mathew Brady and his staged false civil war pics are just one example.
My father served with a gent who had the CMH and the guy purportedly stated that if he had taken a second to think he would not have acted and that in his opinion 95% of those deserving such a decoration died in action unobserved and uncredited...
Mike
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This was not staged, Mike. That rumor was started when Rosenthal was asked about the photo, and believed they were asking about the photo taken after the raising of the second flag when folks were gathered around it. The photo that won the Pulitzer and was used for the memorial was taken during the raising of the second flag which was requested by the fleet commander because the first was too small. Rosenthal was not even aware of the famous photo until it appeared in print.mrmike08075 said:There is much evidence that the most well known photograph of the flag raising was at least the 3rd reenactment of the event for the combat photography folk - that the original flag raising was not captured on camera and not all the original participating men were used in the "staged" pics
That's not a knock on the men or their sacrifice - and it's nothing new. Mathew Brady and his staged false civil war pics are just one example.
My father served with a gent who had the CMH and the guy purportedly stated that if he had taken a second to think he would not have acted and that in his opinion 95% of those deserving such a decoration died in action unobserved and uncredited...
Mike
The raising occurred within a few hours of the first flag, and was before Suribachi was 100% secure.
Here is a photo of the first (smaller) flag.0 -
Apropos of nothings...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKM0OiQZe4gMike
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