Who raised the flag at Iwo Jima?
The last Marine associated with the flag raising on Iwo Jima died today. There were eleven who helped raise the flags; five did not survive the prolonged battle which eventually claimed the lives of almost 6,000 Marines. In addition to the Marines, there were the journalists who also captured the event.
Raymond Jacobs claimed that he was one of the Marines who hoisted one of two flags on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. He died today of natural causes at age 82. James said that he was one of the Marines who raised the first, smaller flag on the mountaintop. This flag was replaced with a larger flag later that morning, and it is the photo of this flag raising that was captured by reporter Joe Rosenthal and became a sensation.
The iconic photo has been controversial since it was published. It was so perfectly composed that many asserted it must have been staged. Despite this, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It was featured in bond drives during World War II, was printed on millions of posters, has been featured in numerous movies, and has been rendered as a monument. It is a source of pride for every Marine.
More than sixty years later, everyone associated with this event has now died. There is no longer a direct source of information. This story has now passed to the "next" generation. Will it be re-interpreted? Will anything be lost in the re-telling now? This is a picture that has proved to be worth much more than a thousand words.
Stories can only survive as long as they have someone to tell them. How many other stories are lost everyday because no one has gathered and preserved them for future storytellers?
Comments
the extra Hand
When I was a lad, I learned that my great uncle Tony Geishauser was killed at Iwo Jima, the day the 'raised the flag'. We were on a tour to Washington DC, and while visiting this monument the tour guide posed this statement, and tagged a question onto it.
"There was an even amount of soldiers raising the flag, but if you count the hands, you'll notice there's one extra hand....who's hand is it?" I recall lots of tourists looking closer and counting and I remember shouting, "Uncle Tony!" I was hushed by the adults, and found out that I wasn't too far off in my repsonse. It is the hand of GOD. " Uncle Tony's an angel. Ain't that God's right hand man?" was something that I uttered.
I also discovered, back in grade school, that my Great Uncle Mike Shaner was stationed at Guadalcanal. I was looking at WWII photos from a LIFE magazine book collection. There was a shot of these marines in the water, doing their laundry. My gramma looked at it, and said..."Omigosh! That's my brother Mike." CG