Posted on 06/23/2016 7:53:45 AM PDT by oh8eleven
The Marine Corps admitted Thursday that it misidentified one of the six men in the World War II photograph of a flag-raising in Iwo Jima — one of the most iconic images in American history.
For more than 70 years, history said John Bradley, a Navy hospital corpsman, was one of the six men seen in the legendary photo from one of the war’s bloodiest battles.
But the Marines now say Bradley is nowhere in the photo — and the man believed to be Bradley is in fact Harold Schultz, a private first class.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Bradley’s book—and official Marine Corps records for 60 years before that—were based on the best information available. John Bradley, a Corpsman who won the Navy Cross on Iwo, participated in the first flag-raising and may have confused the events.
According to his son, the elder Bradley suffered severe PTSD from his experiences in the battle; he rarely discussed the war and only gave one interview about Iwo and the flag-raising—and only because a Chicago Tribune columnist “ambushed” him at the Wisconsin funeral home he owned. Indeed, his widow and children did not learn about the Navy Cross until after his death, when they found it in a shoe box in the back of a closet.
All of the surviving flag raisers were reluctant participants. Bradley and Ira Hayes were ordered to participate in War Bond drives, and Hayes’ confirmation in the flag raising came only through Rene Gagnon, who was directed (by Marine officers) to identify the men in Rosenthal’s photograph. As I recall, Ira Hayes threatened to kill Gagnon if he identified him, but Private Gagnon didn’t really have a choice. Ironically, Gagnon was the only survivor who remotely discussed trying to leverage his fame, but had the good sense not to follow-up on that option.
Gagnon dropped dead of a heart attack (while working as a school janitor) in the late 70s, and Ira Hayes died from alcoholism (directed related to his war experiences) in the early 50s. So, John Bradley was the only surviving flag raiser for many years, and he did not want to relive his war experiences, for obvious reasons. Apparently, Private Schultz felt the same way; as indicated in today’s NYT article, he only mentioned his participation once, at the end of his life and never requested an official inquiry to document his participation.
There was a lot of “fog” surrounding Iwo and the iconic flag-raising. Three of the Marines in Rosenthal’s photo never made it off the island (Sergeant Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley). The NCO originally identified in connection with the event was Sergeant “Boots” Thomas, who was directed to leave the front lines and participate in a CBS radio interview from a Navy ship offshore. Boots Thomas was killed in action just a few days after his 21st birthday.
They are all truly heroes.
I hope that is the case.
Also, medics in the Pacific carried weapons for obvious reasons—the Japanese showed no regard for the red cross, any other protected symbols, or the humanitarian mission of those personnel. There are multiple reports of Navy corpsmen and Army medics fighting off Japanese attacks as they tended to the wounded. John Bradley was forever haunted by the death of a fellow corpsman, who was taken by the enemy off the battlefield, tortured, disfigured and executed by the Japanese.
So, it would not be unheard of for a corpsman to carry an ammo pouch for his weapon, along with his medical pack.
I think your point re the fog of war and the Fan's reminder there were two flag raisings is at the heart of the issue. The recollections of witnesses and participants, as we all know, can be inaccurate even though sincere and well-meaning.
There is no question that today's Marine Corps had a solid basis for correcting the record and is confident of its action.
However the History channel and Smithsonian channel have both run programs that rewrite history from what we have learned. They claim the programs are "correcting" misconceptions.
I have found that the programs generally present their results in an unflattering manner. One case in point:
While reviewing Custer's last stand they maintain there was a survivor, a bugler sent to get reinforcements.
OK, technically the bugler was attached to Custer's unit however, he was dispatched on his mission before the battle started so arguably, he did not survive Custer's last stand, he missed it.
They also never mentioned that Custer wore an arrow shirt...
Hmmm...
Do the name Ray Jacobs sound at all familiar to anyone???
http://www.freerepublic.com/~gunnyg/
Dick.Gaines: AMERICAN!
aka: Gunny G
Semper FIDELIS
.....
He did help raise the first one, then, they did the second one which became the famous photo.
“wearing a cartridge belt with ammunition pouches and wire cutters — which a Navy corpsman would not have had”
And they don’t carry rifles either. Except when they do....That’s always a dicey bet. In combat zones, especially of that intensity people carry things they shouldn’t have, do things they shouldn’t do, wear things they pick up.
It happens. And Corpsmen aren’t always particularly happy to stand out visually.
thanks for the additional info.
minor detail - you don’t “win” the Navy Cross
“I guarantee you can trust today’s Marines.”
Emotionally I hope that’s true. But we have suffered a decade plus of neglect and abuse. I trust lower levels, but the senior officer corps has been corrupted under Clinton, Bush and Obama.
Now they are enthusiastically training the men that trannys and homos are ok. Lesbians have taken over the female leadership. They are putting women into the grunts, they bought the F-35 moonpig which has the distinction of sucking simultaneously as CAS and as a fighter. They caught the “me too” disease and reinstituted “elite” units such as raiders etc... flying in the face of Marine infantry as elite already. They cashed in good rifles for the crappy M-4.
And then there is that photo of two man Marines kissing at the end of a cruise.
I think there are a hell of a lot of good marines. But it’s no longer a default that you can trust them simply because you see an eagle globe and anchor. And its a sin that someone has created that reality.
I think Bradley raised the first flag. But the photo was of the second raising, with a much larger flag.
There is a part of me that wishes that none of them be identified, as they stand for every Marine that fought in that war.
IIRC once they secured the top of the mountain, the Marines grabbed the first available flag (a lot of Marines carried them into battle). They wanted to show the mountain was in US hands, and ensure no errant artillery or bombs hit them.
Shortly thereafter, someone decided that the first flag was too small, and they found and raised a bigger one. The photographer grabbed a photo of that flag raising. He snapped the photo at precisely the right time and angle, and an icon was born.
Given that Mt. Suribachi was still being contested when both flags went up, it is not surprising that there was confusion over who was where and when. They were busy accomplishing a mission and trying to survive.
“minor detail - you don’t “win” the Navy Cross”
Well you sure don’t go buy the ba$tard at the store. I hate those sorority rules and terms the remfs come up with. For all of living memory “winning” a medal has been a common widespread term. There isn’t a thing wrong with it. A million times I hear people “won” this medal, etc. This is like Emily Post for military terms.
Now being a prig.... THAT’S an actual offense.
I want to see the photos they described. The monument is not enough.
I can't look at the Rosenthal shot without getting emotional.
There were at least two flag raisings, only one got photographed. Someone I knew of (now deceased, knew his daughter) claimed to have been there as well. And, you know, I don't give a **** -- as far as I'm concerned, the entire US Marine Corps, past and present, was on that hill that day, raising the Flag.
They serve the Usurper.
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