Question - should I trust Obama’s Marines, or the previous 70 years worth of Marines?
I read Flags Of Our Fathers. Never would have guessed this.
Seeing as how Bradley toured with the other survivors of the Flag Raising you would think someone would have said something long before now.
Bradley’s appearance in the photo came into question after Stephen Foley, an amateur historian in Ireland, noticed some discrepancies while analyzing the photo during his recovery from an operation. He and Eric Krelle, a Marine historian from Nebraska started probing the photo, leading the Marine Corps to open its own investigation in May.
Foley and Krelle said the man believed to be Bradley was wearing a cartridge belt with ammunition pouches and wire cutters — which a Navy corpsman would not have had. They also said photos from the same day showed Bradley in different clothing.
Foley and Krelle were the first to say Schultz was the sixth man. After questions about the photo arose two years ago, Bradley’s son admitted he was no longer sure if his father was there. He said his father was involved in a different flag-raising, and may have mistakenly believed for the rest of his life he was in the Iwo Jima image.
A documentary about the photo probe, "The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima," will debut on the Smithsonian Channel July 3.
“I said, ‘My gosh, Harold, you’re a hero.’ He said, ‘No, I was a Marine.’”
I wonder if Schultz can sue for royalties?
Just kidding!
It was Bradley’s son who wrote Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers. His father went to grave stating that he was the man in the picture.
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz offered the tribute, "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
Two Flags were raised....a smaller one.....then a larger one replaced it. Bradley may have raised the first one.
Very true and, if the USMC is correct, disappointing.
OTOH, there were several involved that knew for sure whether Bradley or Schultz was involved and they didn't say anything either.
It seems possible that at one point Bradley in fact had his hands on the flag/flagpole. It also may be Schultz was a recent replacement who didn't survive very long and that Bradley was highly respected. IIRC, they were taking sporadic fire and the flag raising would not have been uppermost on their minds; that some were posted as a defensive measure and that would not have included Bradley, i.e., it would have been natural for him to serve as a flag raiser.
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.
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
.....
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.
WAR IS HELL ! My dad was a combat soldier in N. Africa,
Italy & Germany during WWII. He was shell-shocked all to
pieces; had flashbacks well into his seventies. Flashbacks
are NOT “dreams”. Flashbacks ARE being there all over again
& reliving the experience. - My great-great grandfather was
a Confederate soldier at Shiloh. He stated, if asked, that
it was the most horrible experience imaginable. - My parents
used to take me to Shiloh when I was a child. Well over
65 yrs. ago. The Bloody Pond was a much darker “old blood”
color at that time from where the wounded from both sides
washed their wounds. Many died at the edge of the pond.
It is much more faded with time, as is the tendency of the
memories of war to fade. It is rare that an old soldier
will want to relive or “glory” in such a reality.
On a side note I used to golf quite regularly between 2003-2007 with an older gentleman that I later found out was 2nd Lt. on the second wave on Iwo Jima. One of the nicest men I have ever known and as quiet as a church mouse.