Considering how familiar the image of six Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima is, it’s surprising how little most Americans know about the 1945 battle for the tiny island or about the men in the picture. As the nation finds itself embroiled in war in Iraq, it is more than time we reconsidered such epic struggles from the past, if only to help understand who we are as a people and where we should be headed.
Some Americans already know more about the Iwo Jima story, thanks to books like Flags of Our Fathers, the best-seller from a few years ago by James Bradley, whose late father was one of the men in the picture, and Ron Powers. Coming this week, the story will become more familiar to many more people, as it is retold on the big screen in a film of the same name from award-winning director Clint Eastwood.
In recent interviews, it is clear that Eastwood is well aware of the complexity of his topic. Although the photograph still stirs a feeling of old-fashioned patriotism for many people, the story behind the picture is more complex than it may seem. The month-long battle to take Iwo Jima led to devastating causalities.
Thousands of American soldiers died on the tiny Pacific island in February and March of 1945. It was a costly victory. Washington realized the power a convincing image would have to help shore up morale in such dire circumstances. It seized on the opportunity to capture the famous Iwo Jima image as part of its campaign to rally support for what would be the final months of the war.
The photo of Iwo Jima, and others of that era, are perhaps some of the last images from war about which there remains a strong national consensus. A generation later, the Vietnam War also produced very memorable pictures, as the new book The Afterlife of America’s War in Vietnam reminds us. Many of these images are filled with ambiguity. Some Vietnam War photos depict outright horrific scenes.
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Article comments
1 - brad schader
We wrote on the same subject and yours is a million times better.
The images of war are used to sell us on it with little thought of those in the picture. I think that is what this movie is going to say. Well written piece and you blew mine away.
2 - Donnie Marler
"Washington" did not decide the picture was powerful or worth preserving. The American people did.
3 - FPR
Donnie,
I totally agree. It is a fantastic photo that remains so popular only because it did (and does) resonate with the American people. The point in the article is simply that the U.S. government realized how powerful the image was and that the photo itself became part of the war effort. With over 6000 American deaths at Iwo Jima, this picture communicated and honored, better than words, what those sacrifices meant.
4 - Donnie Marler
FPR, An excellent point. It's an incredibly powerful image.