65 years ago today: Raising of the flag at Iwo Jima...

[posty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima

[The Holy Roller]

Probably the most famous photograph from all of WWII. There will always be a Marine Corps in part due to this act.

[Ursa Majoris]

Probably the most famous photograph from all of WWII. There will always be a Marine Corps in part due to this act.

2nd Battalion, 5th Division - my kid's unit.

 

Side note - if you've never seen the memorial in Arlington, it is singularly impressive. Next time you're in Washington, do yourself a favor and visit it.

 

Edit:

 

Of the six men pictured — Michael Strank, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, and Harlon Block — only three (Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley) survived the battle. Strank was killed six days after the flag raising when a shell, likely fired from an offshore American destroyer, tore his heart out; Block was killed by a mortar a few hours after Strank; Sousley — the last of the flag-raisers to succumb in the battle — was shot and killed by a sniper on March 21, a few days before the island was declared secure.[19]

Edited February 23, 2010 by Ursa Majoris

[Chargerz]

A great moment in Marine Corps history!!

[Chavez]

Not a bad week - Miracle on Ice on the 22nd, Flag-raising at Iwo Jima on the 23rd.

 

 

Dunno how historically accurate Flags of our Fathers is overall, but the image is credited in that film with basically saving the bankrupt war effort.

[nuke'em ttg]

2nd Battalion, 5th Division - my kid's unit.

 

Side note - if you've never seen the memorial in Arlington, it is singularly impressive. Next time you're in Washington, do yourself a favor and visit it.

 

Edit:

 

Top Washington Sites

Marine Memorial

Tbones pooltable

[buddahj]

Top Washington Sites

Marine Memorial

Tbones pooltable

What about the Vietnam Mermorial? I've only seen my dad cry once in my life & it was while visiting this mermorial.

[tosberg34]

2nd Battalion, 5th Division - my kid's unit.

 

Side note - if you've never seen the memorial in Arlington, it is singularly impressive. Next time you're in Washington, do yourself a favor and visit it.

 

Edit:

 

Semper Fi to your son. Marines are awesome.

[Gopher]

Of the six men pictured — Michael Strank, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, and Harlon Block — only three (Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley) survived the battle. Strank was killed six days after the flag raising when a shell, likely fired from an offshore American destroyer, tore his heart out; Block was killed by a mortar a few hours after Strank; Sousley — the last of the flag-raisers to succumb in the battle — was shot and killed by a sniper on March 21, a few days before the island was declared secure.[19]

Just reading those names gives me chills... quite possibly the best book I've ever read. Incredible.

 

Dunno how historically accurate Flags of our Fathers is overall, but the image is credited in that film with basically saving the bankrupt war effort.

The movie pales in comparison to the book (as is usually the case, but in this case, even more so). Letters from Iwo Jima, the Oscar-nominated film directed by Clint Eastwood, that chronicles the events from the Japanese point of view, is a much better film.

[DMD]

On our family trip to DC a few years ago, the Vietnam Memorial was a definite must see and yet it is just a wall with a bunch of names. But it was more poignant and touching than all the others if only from the things people placed at the bottom of the wall.

 

Arlington cemetary (AKA Robert E. Lee's home hijacked in the Civil War) is another must see including the changing of the guard there and the tomb of the unknown soldier.

[buddahj]

Arlington cemetary (AKA Robert E. Lee's home hijacked in the Civil War) is another must see including the changing of the guard there and the tomb of the unknown soldier.

+1

This was very cool.