Moreover, while the photo did capture the public's imagination, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that we would win the Pacific eventually; and in February 1945, with Nazi Germany collapsing, the Bulge pocket pushed back out, and American armies pushing into Germany, to suggest that Americans were about to "give up" if we hadn't gotten a miraculous photo is utter nonsense. While I agree that we were in it to the end, our victory was tenuous at best on a number of occasions in the Pacific. Certainly after we had the Nazis on the run we knew the tide was turned. However, a careful review of the Pacific war saw several very fortunate turning points for us.
I disagree. Look at the most recent, magisterial work on Midway done by two Japanese Navy geeks: "Shattered Sword." They conclude, rightly in my view, that even if the U.S. had lost at Midway, the war in the Pacific only would have lasted one more year---that the Japanese was so incredibly overstretched and already using up their tiny pool of resources that it was never a question of "if," only "when."
Remember, Nimitz and MacArthur operated on a mere 20% of all U.S. military resources, and that was AFTER Manhattan Project skimmed off the top.