Five Marines ascended to the top with a photographer in tow. Joe Rosenthal’s iconic image of Marines raising the flag, for a second time, became the image of the Pacific War. Battle-hardened Marines in the then-familiar combat uniform and camouflage helmets raised the U.S. colors over the Japanese island. Combat to take the island would continue for weeks. Many of the Marines on the summit wouldn’t survive.
While Marines of the V Amphibious Corp., 3rd, 4th, and 5th Divisions were slugging it out on Iwo Jima, my dad was on Guadalcanal. A day after fellow Marines raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, my dad "celebrated" his 22nd birthday. He was a battle-hardened veteran for three assault landings by that point and by then was part of the 6thMarine Division. His Division was preparing for the coming assault on Okinawa.
On February 23, 2023, my dad was one day away from celebrating his 100th birthday. He was happy to have made it to 100. Nearly 7,000 Marines died on Iwo Jima. My dad knew some of them. Many of them never made it past the age of 22.
Also on February 23, 2023, but 3,000 miles away, and a world apart in understanding sacrifice, patriotism, and understanding the meaning of evil, a foolish and embarrassingly ignorant public official was labeling the battle of Iwo Jima "evil." She wasn’t referring to the abject evil of the Japanese Empire which murdered thousands during the 1930s, started a world war, mass raped and murdered inhabitants of Nanking, and tortured, enslaved, and murdered U.S. prisoners, she was calling the Marines taking Iwo Jima, an act of "evil."
In a disgusting and stupid rant, Fairfax County School Board member Abrar Omeish said: