John, a humble man that served as a Corpsman in the Battle of Iwo Jima, was awarded the Navy Cross and was involved in a flag raising that occurred sometime before the dramatically photographed Rosenthal picture.
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And the authorities no longer believe Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class John Bradley was in the photo taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press.
Rosenthal then raised his bulky Speed Graphic camera and snapped Schultz and his fellow Marines as they raised the larger flag – creating what would become one of the most famous photos in U.S. history. He died in 1995 and apparently never said anything about it.
“Our history is important to us, and we have a responsibility to ensure it’s right”, Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said Thursday in a statement.
Bradley recently said his review of the information that the Marines used to change the historic record led him to believe his father was not in the Rosenthal photo.
Neller ordered the review after researchers working with a Smithsonian Channel documentary on the flag raising had asked the Marine Corps to consider their theory that one of the Marine flag raisers had been misidentified shortly after the photo became popular.
After the photograph published, Bradley and two others who survived the battle – Hayes and Gagnon – went on tour selling war bonds. The book, “Flags of Our Fathers”, was later adapted into an Oscar-nominated film directed by Clint Eastwood.
Kim Woodard, Lucky 8 TV co-founder and executive producer, added: “It’s an incredible honor for Lucky 8 to partner with the Marine Corps and Smithsonian Channel to share with viewers this story of service and reluctant valor”.
Block, Sousley and Strank died at Iwo Jima before the photo was distributed in the US.
Schultz, a mortarman with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, accompanied the 40-man patrol that reached the top of 550-foot-tall Mount Suribachi on the southern end of the volcanic island early on February 23, 1945.
Scotella said the image is still a symbol of America’s strength because it was never about the individual Marines. They then compared these to photos taken of the unit on the same day.
The Marine Corps effort to identify the men was further hindered by the confusion over the fact there were two flag-raisings, the chaos of one of the war’s bloodiest battles and the faces in the photos were obscured. He’s included in the national Iwo Jima memorial, next to Arlington National Cemetery, outside of Washington D.C.
The picture of the flag-raising is one of the most famous war photographs of all time. “Not really. I was a Marine”, he said.
In one book on the episode, “Shadow of Suribachi: Raising the Flags on Iwo Jima”, Parker Bishop Albee Jr. and Keller Cushing Freeman write: “Bradley, for his part, stressed that credit for the flag raising should be shared”.
“I think he took his secret to the grave”, Neimeyer told USA Today.
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“What they did together and what they represent remains most important”, he said.
