( Historical note: In one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, when it was said "uncommon courage was a common virtue," 6,000 Marines were killed and 18,000 wounded. Some 21,000 Japanese were killed. The island itself is still barren and only a handful of people live on it. But after it was secured by the Marines, B-29s made over 2,200 emergency landings on it, saving the lives of more than 24,000 crewmen. AP photographer Joe Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for the flag-raising photo. Of the six men in the photo, three were buried in that black volcanic ash, one came out on a stretcher. Only two walked off the island.
Zell Miller is a Democratic U.S. senator from Georgia.)
Good post. Thanks. When I hear somone criticize the use of the a-bomb, I have to bring up the millions that likely would have died if the war had gone on for years.
Shame on Zell, a former Marine, for misquoting Admiral Chester Nimitz. Perhaps Zell needs a sand flea crawling in and out of his nostril, like they do at Parris Island, to serve as a reminder for the need for attention to detail. Unsat.
"The battle of Iwo Jima has been won. Among the Americans who served on Iwo, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 17 March 1945, CINCPAC Communique No. 300
And, not to at all dismiss the loss of those particular American lives, saved their B-29's, allowing them to carry the bombs that would save other American lives.