The most famous flag in World War II: How a photo shapes America's memory of World War II

American photography magazine commented: "At that moment, the camera recorded the soul of a country!" This photo, which fully shows the bravery of American troops, became one of the most famous photos in World War II. Especially in the United States, this photo frequently appears in various occasions, which is a household name.

The most famous flag in World War II was the American flag raised on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima. In the worst battle of the Pacific War, when US Navy Secretary Forrest and Commander Smith of the 5th Amphibian Army saw the flag flying on the top of Iwo Jima, Forrest said excitedly: "The flag raised on Iwo Jima means the honor of the Marine Corps in the next 500 years!"

This is the first photo of Iwo Jima planting a flag.

Put the flag on the folding bowl mountain

The scene of flag planting took place in the battle of Iwo Jima, where the US military seized the commanding heights of Buzhe Mountain. 1February 23, 945, the morning in Iwo Jima was as cold as usual, accompanied by violent storms, but at noon, the rain stopped and the weather began to clear up. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 28th Regiment of the 5th Division of the Marine Corps, thought that the troops could start attacking Buzhe Mountain, so he ordered David SeVolens, the company commander of E Company, who was just south of Buzhe Mountain, "Send me a platoon!" Volens inspected the situation of his troops, and the 2nd platoon was scouting at the foot of Shibuya Mountain, so he chose the 3rd platoon, which is also the closest platoon to Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, as the first American troops to attack Shibuya Mountain. Just as the forty-four people were about to leave, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson asked his adjutant to take out a national flag and handed it to Captain Schrier, saying, "If you climb to the top of the mountain, you can put it up." Patrol begins, destination peak. As these 40-odd people snake forward, they climb higher and higher. When they appear on a nearly vertical hillside, they attract everyone's attention, and all the marines on the beach and in the northern land focus on them. Even the soldiers on the surface warships began to look at these people, and almost everyone thought that they were going to succeed. However, military doctor Bradley wondered: How many of them can come back alive? "When we went down the mountain, no one thought we could finish the task." Shortly after the battle, he said in an interview, "We all guessed that there would be many Japanese soldiers shooting at us crazily along the way." As a military doctor, he has one more anxiety than others-how can I carry the wounded down the mountain? So when you go up the mountain, whenever you see the bunker, you throw grenades into it. There are no roads to climb in Bo Zhe, and rocks are blown to pieces everywhere. You can only climb on your knees and grab everything you can with your hands. Many people in this business are armed, and everyone is scared. After climbing about two thirds, Captain Schlayer sent cover troops to both sides at the same time. "We are very nervous," said soldier Robert Riddle. "I have been thinking that the enemy will suddenly jump out, or one of us will suddenly step on a mine. Although no Japanese soldiers shot at us on the way, it took us nearly 40 minutes to climb to the top of the mountain. " Then Boots Thomas ordered, "Find a flagpole and put that flag up." Riddle found a medium-sized wooden stick as a flagpole from the Japanese bunker, and they tied the national flag to it. The historic moment is coming. At this time, everyone knew that this scene would be recorded by the camera, and everyone was very excited. Schlayer, Thomas, Sergeant Hansen and Corporal Lindbergh repeatedly checked the flagpole. Photographer Lou Lovoli recorded all this with continuous shooting. Then he told them what posture to pose, because the boys were obviously a little shy when facing the camera. 10: 20 or so, the flagpole is erected. Rouvari wants to add some comedy to this photo. He suggested that jim mitchell, who was sitting in the back, squatted down with a carbine in his hand. However, at the critical moment, the film was used up and needed to be replaced. Lindbergh frowned and muttered to Rovory to hurry up, because soldiers with flagpoles were obvious targets. It was this moment that was recorded by history: Thomas and Schlayer firmly grasped the flagpole, Lindbergh stood a step or two away watching them, and Michelle added comedy to the photo at the back. This is the first photo of Iwo Jima planting a flag.

Behind the scenes: the second star-spangled banner on Bo Zhe Mountain.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson later ordered them to take this national flag down the mountain and keep it well, but to re-establish a new and bigger national flag at the top of the mountain. At this time, platoon 2 has just completed the reconnaissance mission at the foot of the mountain. Volens then ordered Michael, Haroon, Ella and Franklin to plant the second national flag at the top of Zhebo Mountain. "When you reach the top of the mountain, tell Schrael to take good care of that little flag." In this way, several people set off with telephone lines, batteries and the American flag. They arrived at the top of the mountain at noon, and Michael explained to Shrek what Lieutenant Colonel Johnson meant-let this bigger flag fly here so that everyone on the island can see it! So, they found a drain pipe weighing more than 100 pounds. Captain Schlayer wanted to lower the first flag and raise the second flag at the same time, so Michael led people to raise the flag, and his team was responsible for lowering the flag. Associated Press reporter joe rosenthal recorded this classic scene: Halon crouched at the flag point of the tree, ready to take over the bottom of the flagpole. Michael is on the other side, directing everyone to slowly pass the flagpole to Halon. He and four other companions gathered around the flagpole and stood on tiptoe step by step. It looks as if they are walking in the snow. At this time, Michael saw Bradley walking past with a big bag of bandages on his back and called him to come and give him a hand. Bradley immediately put down the bandage and came to the flagpole, standing between Michael and Halon. Franklin supported the flagpole from the front of the photo, and Renee supported the flagpole from the back of the photo with a rifle on her shoulder. He stood behind Bradley, so we couldn't see him from the front of the photo. The men gathered behind Harlan, who was bent, and Bradley was in the middle of the photo, holding the flagpole tightly in both hands. After planting the national flag, Rosenthal called the marines together and suggested that they take photos around the national flag. From this photo, we can see that Ira Hayes is smiling. He is the only person sitting on the ground in the photo. Michael stood next to Captain Schlayer, and Franklin and Bradley stood on Michael's left and right. Franklin smiled excitedly and raised his rifle with his right hand. Bradley later said, "We are so happy!" His image also illustrates this point-he has a bright smile on his face and a helmet waving in his right hand. Ella is sitting on the leftmost ground, Franklin is on the fourth left with a rifle, Michael is on the fifth left, and John is behind him with a helmet. At that time, Lovoli and Bob Campbell also took many photos, joe rosenthal's photo was the most famous, but he didn't like this one at that time, because he had just arrived and had missed the first flag planting. When six soldiers planted the flag, Rosenthal stood on the rubble beside him, trying to keep his balance and pressing the shutter in a hurry. So, later, he specifically asked the soldiers to take pictures under the flying national flag. One of them has 20 soldiers around the national flag, waving guns and cheering. This popular photo is Rosenthal's most satisfactory. Only after the film was sent to Guam for development, it was sent back to the United States, and the editor chose to publish the first film.

In fact, Rosenthal is most satisfied with this one.

A photo shaped Americans' memories of World War II.

Immediately, this photo spread all over the world. American photography magazine commented: "At that moment, the camera recorded the soul of a country!" This photo, which fully shows the bravery of the US military, became one of the most famous photos in World War II, especially in the United States, which frequently appeared on various occasions and became a household name. According to incomplete statistics, there are 6,543,800 stores, 300,000 railway stations, 200,000 factories, 6,543,800 cinemas, 6,543,800 banks and 5,000 giant advertisement columns in the United States. According to the strong demand of the public, the US Postal Service designed and issued stamps based on this photo in 654.38+0.945. 1995 To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the US Postal Service once again issued stamps with this photo as the pattern. Hollywood also filmed the movie "The Sand of Iwo Jima" with the Battle of Iwo Jima as the background.

Stamps based on flag-planting photos caused a great sensation after they were published in newspapers. US President Truman specially ordered the recognition of these six warriors. Three survivors of the six warriors were later received by President Truman. President Truman praised them as American heroes, which deeply disturbed Ella, who was of Indian descent. He said: "Only five of my 45 people survived, and only 27 of my 125 people survived. Those who died in the battle should be praised. How can I consider myself a hero? " Bradley was injured in the fierce battle and was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic performance in the battle. In an interview with reporters, he said: "People regard us as heroes. I personally don't think so. I just happened to be at a specific time and place. " Witnessed the bullets, recorded the brilliant and brilliant flag, and was collected as a precious souvenir by naval museum.

President Truman met the surviving flag-inserting warriors and was pointing to a poster drawn according to photos to introduce the scene to the president. In the photo, Ellen Gagnion, Ira Hayes on his right, and John Bradley on his left with a cane. After the war, the California legislature first proposed to the federal government to build a memorial hall for the Battle of Iwo Jima, and this proposal received millions of responses. The famous sculptor Felix Davidton took this famous photo and spent 72 hours making a model out of clay. 1954165438+1October, in Roslin Town, Arlington, Virginia, across the river from Washington, D.C., a huge bronze statue with photos as the motherboard was built. Each flag-raising hero was 32 feet (about 9.7 meters) high and the flagpole was 60 feet (about 18.3).

When the statue monument with photos as the motherboard was completed, three survivors of the Six Warriors came to participate in the celebration, remembering their comrades who died heroically in the battle and recalling the unforgettable battle course. Nowadays, the monument is surrounded by green grass and has become a leisure resort, but the scene of fierce fighting filled with smoke in Iwo Jima still remains in people's memory, and the great trauma of the war is even more difficult to calm down, making people cherish peace more!