My Dad was a Pharmacist's Mate i.e. Corpsman i.e. Medic in that invasion. He was only on Iwo for the first six days, but on day one was mortared back into the Pacific and had to land again an hour later.
He accompanied a dying Marine back to his transport (USS Mellette) on the sixth or seventh day. They had so many wounded men to care for that his Chief said, "You aren't going anywhere." He said he didn't argue the point. It was something like 96 hours before he was able to try sleeping again.
That iconic picture was taken about day 3 of a five week battle, not at the closing stages. The plan was that Iwo would be captured in about 3 days. My Dad said you can't imagine the euphoria that waved among the Navy and Marine men when that flag started to wave. Still, the issue had barely begun.
My Dad had a bazillion great sea stories. Some may have been true. I never sensed exaggeration in his stories of the harshness of that invasion.
God bless your father. He was a hero.
You are correct on the timing of the flag raising. Most folks are completely clueless about the reason for taking Iwo. It was a forward operating base for P-51 Mustangs to escort the B-29’s to Japan on bombing missions. I got to talk to one of the first Mustang pilots to land there. About 1 month into the operation the few remaining Japanese swarmed the airbase at dawn. It was bloody hand to hand combat. Mustang pilots, mechanics and staff vs. Japanese infantry.
My uncle, my mom’s baby brother, was 17 years old.
He was the second wave to hit the beach on that first day. After surviving, one of his jobs was to guard the bodies of the dead, so their belongings would not be stolen.
He committed suicide in his mid thirties, leaving behind his young wife and two small children. He never recovered from the horrors of that day.
Another error in the Brietbart piece...they use an early photo that identified Henry Hansen as one of the flag-raisers, not Harlan Block. It actually took more than a year to correct that mistake. Hansen actually took part in the first flag-raising, and that ensign was replaced a short time later by larger flag, raised by Strank, Sousley, Gagnon, Hayes, Bradley and Block.
Admiral Nimitz said it best: Iwo was a place where “uncommon valor was a common virtue.”