Posted on 02/20/2005 8:50:20 AM PST by LouAvul
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) - The old man gazes at the photo of the flag flying over Iwo Jima and sees himself 60 years younger, a Marine in uniform with a rifle in his grasp, a radio on his back and his head tilted up as the Stars and Stripes snap in the wind.
It's not the photo known the world over of six men struggling to raise Old Glory. No, this is a black and white of the original American flag flown by Marines on the island, an event overshadowed by an iconic image taken when the flag was replaced hours later and clouded by controversy over the identities of the men in the picture.
As another anniversary of the celebrated moment arrives Wednesday, 79-year-old Raymond Jacobs claims that like the first flag planted on Japanse soil during World War II, he has also been lost to history, ignored by Marine Corps brass for his role that day on the rim of Mount Suribachi.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
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