Uncommon valor

Uncomon Valor was a Comon Virtue

That is the inscription on the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington D.C. The memorial was sculpted by Felix DeWeldon in 1954 from Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph above. That photo was snapped 60 years ago today. It depicts five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising the flag on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi seven days into the battle. A few days later, three of the flag raisers, Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley were dead. They were only 3 of the over 7,000 Americans killed in action and 26,000 total allied casualties in just 39 days of vicious fighting.

If you study the picture, it truly is a metaphor for the time - six men working together in a mighty struggle. They struggle in total anonymity. Of the six men, the forms of only four and one unidentifiable facial profile are visible. This photo is a perfect example of what the “Greatest Generation” and America are all about. Six ordinary men from different walks of life and corners of the nation, led by an immigrant NCO, Sergeant Mike Strank, joining together against great odds to get the job done without fanfare.

The photo and what it represents – victory - stormed the nation. It soon became the most reproduced photo ever. For the next two months everyone in America would see this picture over and over. One couldn't avoid it. It hung in:
- One million Retail Store windows.
- 16,000 Movie Theaters.
- 15,000 Banks.
- 200,000 Factories.
- 30,000 Railroad Stations.
- 5,000 Large Billboards.

The three survivors, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley were enlisted to head the 7th and most successful War Bond Tour. That tour raised $24 Billion (1945 Dollars) for the US Treasury. To put this into perspective, the total US Budget in 1946 was $56 Billion.

How would today’s media cover an event such as the battle of Iwo Jima? First, by about the second hour of the battle, the New York Times would declare it an un-winnable quagmire. At D+2, Peter Jennings would be asking, “Why do the Japanese hate us?” At D+5, pasty Chris Matthews would be telling his audience that the Japanese people really don’t want democracy. At D+7, when Rosenthal’s photo would have come out, Dan Rather would be tossing softball questions to Tojo in an exclusive interview. At D+8, networks would cover a news conference held by NOW, the NAACP and Act UP to discuss the lack of minority representation in the photo. The 6:00 pm news readers would demand the photo be airbrushed to reflect "our diversity". At D+10 or so, when three of the men who raised the flag were dead, CNN would be holding a 24 hour vigil outside their homes hoping for a grieving family member to trash the president’s war policy and complaining about the lack of body armor. At D+20, when it’s apparent that we’re in for “a long hard slog”, the media bigs would be asking for an exit strategy. At D+25, Bob Schiefer would be asking Thomas L. Friedman, “Is it all worth it?” At D+39, when the island was declared secure, Democrats would be holding hearings declaring that “The president ordered the premature flag raising for political purposes”.

After the battle, the press would ignore the fact that securing the island made it possible for over 2,400 B-29s to make emergency landings at Iwo Jima, saving the over 27,000 men who crewed the aircraft. Instead, they’d be bellyaching about the cost of the war, long deployments and low taxes. Thank God it was our moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas shouldering the load back then.

Could we muster the courage and character to do it today?