The Mt Suribachi Conspiracy

Perhaps the most enduring image to come out of the war is Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s shot of five Marines and a navy medical corpsman raising Old Glory atop Iwo Jima’s Mt. Suribachi on February 23, 1945. This was actually the second flag raising that morning. A platoon of forty men from the Twenty-eighth Marines had reached the summit after fierce hand-to-hand fighting, and at 10:20 A.M., three of the men raised a small American flag on a piece of pipe. Realizing that the flag was too small to be seen readily (and wanting to ensure that the regiment retained the original flag), the officer in charge sent for a larger one. Shortly afterward the battle ensign of LST-779 was brought up, fastened to a longer piece of pipe, and raised to the cheers of many of the troops hotly engaged with the enemy. It is this flag raising that was photographed by Rosenthal. Of late, it has been claimed that this second flag raising was deliberately staged as a “photo opportunity” by the Marine brass to garner more prestige for the Corps, and ultimately a bigger share of the postwar budget. Actually, the entire incident was unplanned. Both flag raisings were made by the Marines on the spot, several of whom did not even survive the subsequent combat. The fact that there were two flag raisings can be found in all detailed histories of the battle, and both flags are prominently displayed in the Marine Corps Museum with photographs of both flag raisings. Rosenthal’s just happens to be the artistically better of the two. Interestingly, several of the survivors of the flag raising were still alive at the time of the conspiracy, but none appeared to have been consulted on the matter by those making the charges of “photo opportunity.”

 

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[td]Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II.[1][2] Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine Forces Reserve on August 24, 1942. He trained as a Paramarine and saw action in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. On February 19, 1945, Hayes participated in the landing at Iwo Jima and fought in the subsequent battle for the island. On February 23, Hayes, together with fellow Marines Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, and Mike Strank, and Navy Corpsman John Bradley, raised the American flag over Mount Suribachi, an event photographed by Joe Rosenthal.

As a result of Rosenthal's photograph, Hayes and the others became national heroes in the United States. He was instrumental in confirming the identity of one of his fellow Marines in the photograph, Harlon Block. Hayes was never comfortable with his new-found fame, however, and after his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps he descended into alcoholism. He died of exposure and alcohol poisoning on January 24, 1955 after a night of drinking, and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.[/td]
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[td]Hayes was often commemorated in art and film, both before and after his death. He is depicted in the Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, based on the famous photograph, and he portrayed himself in the 1949 film "Sands of Iwo Jima". His tragic story was the subject of the 1961 film The Outsider, and inspired Peter La Farge's song "The Ballad of Ira Hayes". He was also depicted in the 2006 film "Flags of Our Fathers".

"The Ballad of Ira Hayes" sung by Johnny Cash.

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[td][video=youtube;UKDLQWEvubc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDLQWEvubc[/video][/td]
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Always sad when you know that the War was still killing people long after it ended. :down:

 

Of course it was a photo opportunity, why would it take 5 soldiers to put up a flag? :botman: