Seventy Years After the Flag

According to USAtoday, the truly famous photograph of United States Marines raising an American flag on top of a hill on the island of Iwo Jima celebrates its 70 year anniversary this week (2/22/15-2/28/15). This photograph, which marked the victory of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, possesses an odd history behind it. As the Marines were raising the second flag on the top of the hill, due to the first one being "too small," the photographer with the Marines, named Joe Rosenthal saw the great image and quickly took the picture. Unsure if he was able to document the triumphant moment, Rosenthal commenced to collect all the Marines in front of the flag for a "gung-ho" picture with rifles raised above their heads and cheering. When Rosenthal makes his way to Guam, he is greeted with praise and even messages from New York stating how great his picture was. The issue was, he had absolutely no clue as to what picture he was receiving praise for. Not sure if he had achieved a successful photo with the flag raising photo, he assumed he was getting patted on the back for the "gung-ho" picture, so when asked, "Joe, did you pose it?" he would reply that he had. Later, however, when Rosenthal had seen tear sheets of the photo of the flag being raised, he proceeded to tell people that the photo had not been staged, and that his previous statement was just a misunderstanding. Of course, his reputation was not demolished and he later was given a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph. Mr. Rosenthal explained in an interview, before his unfortunate death in 2013, that the photograph was taken not for him to receive praise, but to display the honor and courage of the Marines who fought on that fateful day. Unfortunately, in 2008, the final veteran of the Marines who fought to take the small island of Iwo Jima had passed away from natural causes. Raymond Jacobs, the United States Marine who was a radio operator who was present for the photograph of the first flag, died at the age of 82. After World War II, Jacobs fought in the Korean War and ended up retiring as a sergeant. However, he will forever be engraved into history as one of the Marines who was standing tall on the island of Iwo Jima, which is now known as Iwo To. Every last one of the soldiers who fought on that island and in any conflict in any part of the world for the United States of America deserve nothing but respect.

The "Gung-Ho" Photo