Iwo Jima flag raisers identities

Hi all. New to this site but just wanted to post this topic here. I have seen other posts in this forum discussing the flag raisings on Iwo Jima and all the attendant controversies that surrounded both episodes as regards who was involved in what etc, but I am wondering what others make of this observation. Recently I was on the website Iwojima.com where there is a link to a theory that John Bradley of the famous Rosenthal flag raising photo was also involved in the first flag raising episode. If you are not familiar with this go to this website and check it out.The photographic evidence is based on photographs taken by Lou Lowery of Leatherneck magazine who photographed the first flag raising, but these new photographs were not unearthed until early 2002. They appeared in Leatherneck magazine in June 2002. In October 2006 issue of Leatherneck magazine, Dustin Spence uses these photographs to put a pretty convincing argument that it is in fact Bradley involved in the first flag raising, using contemporaneous photographs for comparison purposes. Spence was making a short film about Iwo Jima at the time.
However, if you visit this website and compare the pictures of Bradley in the first flag raising to the figure of Bradley in the more famous Rosenthal shot, they are not the same person. Anyone familiar with the photographs taken that morning will know of the "gung ho" shot where the jubilant Marines gathered around the flagpole after the replacement flag was raised. Bradley is identified in this shot also. Close inspection of the first flag raising pictures appear to show Bradley wearing his Unit Three Corpsman medical bags along with shoulder suspenders attached to his web belt .He is also wearing a pistol in holster to the front of his web belt as was the norm for Corpsmen on the front lines. The shoulder harness is visible on close inspection of the "gung ho" photo.
If you look at the famous Rosenthal photo of the second flag raising, the figure identified as Bradley is not wearing shoulder harness and has cartridge pouches attached to his belt which Bradley does not have in the "new" Lowery photos. Rosenthal also took another photo that day which is seldom seen but appears on page 108 of Hal Buell's book "Uncommon Valor, common virtue" published in 2006. This photo is alluded to in the book "Shadow of Suribachi" by Albee and Freeman which was published in 1995. In this photo, four of the flag raisers are grasping the pole while others have left to fetch rocks to secure the base of the pole. This is clearly shown in Bill Genaust's movie footage of the second flag raising. In this Rosenthal photo, the figure who is always identified as Bradley is more visible to the camera. His empty canteen pouch on his right hip is still clearly seen, but he also has a Marine issue wire cutters on the front of his web belt. The cartridge pouches are also clearly seen but they are absent from the Lowery photos of the first flag raising. So if this is not Bradley who is it?
Please bear in mind that I do not wish to make controversy or lessen anyone's role in anything because every man on top of that hill that morning, and indeed every person who risked their lives to give us the freedom that we enjoy, is, in my mind a hero. But does anyone else think there might be something in this? I know all about the controversies of that time that raged over the first and second flags, plus the mistaken identity of Hank Hansen in the Rosenthal photo who was later omitted to give inclusion to Harlon Block. Ira Hayes never wanted to have anything to do with publicity or the Bond Tour, but what if the first identified flag raiser, Rene Gagnon was mistaken in his identity of Bradley. Gagnon was a company runner and might not have known Bradley that well. When confronted with top brass, Bradley might have said he was involved in a flag raising but not known to which one they were referring, when you consider that Lowery's photos of the first flag raising were being suppressed in favour of the more "spectacular" Rosenthal photo. Bradley would have known Hank Hansen well as they were in the same platoon, but yet he identified Hansen in the Rosenthal photo when a careful comparison of Hansen in the "gung ho" photo shows Hansen in entirely different garb. It was not until 1947 that Block was credited with being in Rosenthal's photo. Many people believe that Ira Hayes informed Block's family of this, being troubled deeply by what he saw as a gross error. This then led to the investigation which gave Block's inclusion.
In the Leatherneck article of October 2006, the editor comments that while they present the article for historical reasons, they do not wish to allude to the veracity of Bradley being in the first flag raising. Indeed, the last survivor of the first flag raising, Chuck Lindberg said that Bradley was on top of the mountain but didn't have anything to do with it. Without wishing to cast aspersions on Mr .Lindberg who is now deceased, perhaps he was sore at the attention that the men of the famous photo got. The company commander of Easy Company, Captain Dave Severance, points out that Bradley testified that he had nothing to do with the first flag raising, and in the second one, just happened to jump up and give a hand to the men struggling with the heavy pole.
Again, I don't wish to cause offence to any individual or their family but what do other people think? John Bradley was a hero. He earned the Navy Cross for administering aid to the wounded under heavy fire and was eventually, seriously injured himself. I'm sure people who are interested in this topic are familiar with the participants, events and photographs etc. I drew my sources from the Leatherneck articles of June 2002 and October 2006 plus the Iwojima.com website, along with the books "Shadow of Suribachi" by Albee and Freeman and "Uncommon Valor, common virtue" by Hal Buell. Both are excellent books.