Posted on 10/24/2006 11:18:46 PM PDT by neverdem
As a memorial to the astonishing war slaughter of the modern age, I propose the island of Iwo Jima—for its ugliness, its uselessness, and its remoteness from all things of concern to the postmodern era.
Iwo Jima can be visited only with military permission and, usually, only by military transport. A comfortless C-130 Hercules propeller craft flies from Okinawa over more than 700 miles of blank Pacific, moving as slowly as the planes of Iwo's battle days. The island is five miles long, running northeast from a neck of sand at the base of the Mount Suribachi volcanic cone and spreading to a width of two and a half miles in the shape of a paint spill, with Mount Suribachi (really a 550-foot hill) as the can of paint. The colors are gray, gray-green, brown, and black—the hues of camouflage. From the air Iwo Jima looks as small as it is, a reminder of the insignificance of the great tactical objectives of war. The landscape at Ypres is banal. The beaches at Normandy are not as nice as those in East Hampton. From the top of Cemetery Ridge, at Gettysburg, the prospect is less awe-inspiring than the view from many interstate rest stops. And Iwo Jima protrudes unimpressively from an oceanic reminder of the insignificance of everything.
I went to Iwo Jima with a director and a cameraman. We were working on a one-hour cable-television documentary about the battle. From February 19 to March 26 of 1945, 6,821 Americans and about 20,000 Japanese were killed in the fight for the island. How could a one-hour anything—prayer, symphony, let alone cable-television documentary —do justice to that? The director, the cameraman, and I had worried about it the night before in an Okinawa bar. We decided that 26,821 men would have told...
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I saw the History Channel special on Iwo Jima narrated by him. For sheer detail and a gripping tour of the actual battlefield, this is my personal favorite.
thanks for posting, forwarded to friends.
The author omits one factoid....estimates are that 25,000+ airmen were saved by having Iwo available as an emergency airfield..
bump
I've never seen a better O'Rourke essay.
Great piece!
Thanks for posting.
"The visiting Marines were not allowed to smoke or swim or explore on their own. They slept on the ground. Reveille was at 5:00 A.M. They were led on hikes all day, covering the island's eight square miles. I was never in the military, but if this is what boosts morale, I want nothing to do with what causes morale to deteriorate."
This guy has no idea...LOL
pingh
good read!
Iwo Jima can be visited only with military permission and, usually, only by military transport...
He definitely, definitely missed the point there.
I am listening to "Flag of our Fathers", and the carnage, in the telling of it is just shocking. I cannot imagine in my worst nightmares the reality of that.
Thanks for the ping!
Of course, on the other hand...it WAS P.J. O'Rourke. I didn't realize that when I posted yesterday. Makes sense now...:)
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