Sgt Ray Jacobs - Iwo Jima - Flag Raising

Sgt Ray Jacobs has recently been officially recognized by USMC as the radioman shown in the Lou Lowery photos of the first flag raising on Mount Suribachi, at 1029 on the morning of 23 February 1945.

(Not to be confused with the "replacement" flag raised later that day and photographed by Joe Rosenthal.)

Ray would like to hear from other surviving members of Easy Company, 2dBattallion, 28th Marines, and Lt Schrier's 40-man combat patrol up Suribachi to raise our national colors!

Ray can be contacted at....
RAY1JACOBS@msn.com

Full story and information here...
http://www.dreamwater.net/gunnyg/firstflag.html

Best to you, and,
Semper Fidelis

 

"A legend has grown up that this young man {ie, the US Marine}is a killer, he takes no prisoners, and gives no quarter. This is partly true, but the reason is not brutality, not just vindicative remembrance of Pearl Harbor. He kills because in the jungle he must, or be killed. this enemy stalks him, and he stalks the enemy as if each were a hunter tracking a bear cat. Quite frequently you hear marines say: I wish we were fighting the Germans. They are human beings like us. Fighting against them must be like athletic performance-matching your skill against someone you know is good. Germans are misled, but at least they react like men. The Japs are like animals. Against them you have to learn a whole new set of physical reactions. You have to get used to their animal stubbornness and tenacity. they take to the jungle as if they had been bred there, and like some beasts you never see them until they are dead." -Pacific Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey

Do you think that a people described in this way would lay down and not fight to the death in defense of the emperor...?? The fact of the matter is the dropping of two Atomic bombs on Japan was justifed. The loss of life(civilian included) would have been unimaginable.

Also, the US was not the only country pursuing an active nuclear project at the time. The Germans, USSR and even Japan had all taken steps to ensure the procurement of fissile material before the end of the war. If Germany or Japan had achieved their goal, would they not have dropped a bomb in downtown London or NY? I think all this moral relativism is clouding the simple fact that the Allies had to prevail by any means necessary. If not, perhaps we would all be saluting pictures of Hitler or Tojo this very day...

A useful resource can be found here:
http://www.dannen.com/decision/

 

Sorry wrong board...

 

No problem, cap!

And Gunny: many thanks for that! I have always been fascinated with that single shot and the story of it. Now I can learn a bit more on the PTO.

 

By the way, do anybody have a link to the picture of the 2nd raise of the big flag in mount Suribachi, the famous one? I would love to have that picture.

 

Hey quick question:

Is it correct that the famous Iwo Jima picture wasn't shot "live" but was made later (like the famous "Soviet Soldier rises the Red Banner on the Reichstag"-pic)?

I have heard something to the effect that two pictures were taken, one original with different Marines and a 5 ft. flag and the later "famous" one with the four men.

Any infos on that?

Cheers,

 

Hi Andy: The second flag raising was not staged and there are 5 marines not 4. I recommend the book "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley, his father was one of the flag raisers for the second flag.

 

Thanks Steve.

You're right, 5 men on the famous second pic.

I found a good site showing all pictures:

- the first, "small" flag rising by Hank Hansen, Louis Charlo, Boots Thomas, Harold Schrier and Chuck Lindberg, picture by Lou Lowery

- the first flag down to get the secong flag up, picture by Bob Campbell

- the "famous" second raising by Joe Rosenthal, showing Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Harlon Block. Rene Gagnon who participated in the second rising isn'tn on that particular photo, but only on the entire film clip (so no monument for him how ironic).

I think that link clears it up, if there is just a small piece of trust of what you find on the web:

http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingb.htm

Cheers,

 

Hi Andy, I corrected your mistake with one of my own. There are 6 men and all are in the photo.

 

Great site, Andy! Thanks! I really like that photo!