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To: NorthEasterner
"The guys in the first flag-raising have been cheated the recognition they deserve because of the spectacular beauty of the photograph."

Wasn't Iwo the place where "Uncommon valor was a common commodity?" Everyone who fought there deserved recognition and praise.

However, I cannot name a single man in the famous photo (I'm sure a number of Freeper could). The people in the famous photo, to me, are iconic. They are symbols. They represent all who fought there. To say that men in the first photo were "cheated" of recognition is, I think, to miss the whole point.

4 posted on 07/05/2006 9:20:05 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("He hit me, he cries, he runs to the court and sues me.")
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To: ClearCase_guy

There were 26000 American casualties on Iwo. I don't think anyone that was there felt bad because all they got was the t-shirt. I agree that the iconic nature of the photo is what is important.


7 posted on 07/05/2006 9:25:48 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: ClearCase_guy
Wasn't Iwo the place where "Uncommon valor was a common commodity?"

IIRC, the phrase is "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

I agree with your remarks on the iconic nature of the photograph. While the image is unique to the Marine Corps, I have always seen it as a triumphal assertion of Allied victory over fascism. In a similar vein is the photograph of Soviet flag being raised over the bullet and shell-pocked Reichstag.
9 posted on 07/05/2006 9:32:02 AM PDT by Captain Rhino ( Dollars spent in India help a friend; dollars spent in China arm an enemy.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Only one I know of in the picture is Ira Hayes.


15 posted on 07/05/2006 9:49:29 AM PDT by Tennessee_Bob ("Those who "abjure" violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.")
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