Hansen: Spurred by Omahan's research, Marine Corps changes history behind iconic Iwo Jima photo
Source: Omaha World Herald
By Matthew Hansen
Eric Krelle sat at the downtown coffee shop where it all began. He looked a little dazed. He looked like he might cry.
I knew that we were right, he said this week. But I never thought it would come to this conclusion. I still dont believe it.
A couple of years ago, Eric was just a normal dude in Omaha, a steady 40-year-old with a steady job, a husband and father of three. But he was also a man with a bit of an obsession. He stoked this obsession through late-night research, fueled it by spending hours upon hours intently staring at blown-up images of seven-decade-old photos and grainy film footage. He did this until he unlocked a hidden history that seemingly had eluded the U.S. government, the Marine Corps and historians since 1945.
Snip: This morning, the Marine Corps officially acknowledged they have since 1945 misidentified the men in the most iconic photo in U.S. history, that photo of six Marines raising a flag over Iwo Jima.
FULL story and related stories at link.
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Read more: http://www.omaha.com/columnists/hansen-spurred-by-omahan-s-research-marine-corps-changes-history/article_0b7a4264-3949-11e6-9702-3b11d206d4ae.html
tonyt53
(5,737 posts)He saw it on the stretcher on the way back down. He spent the rest of the war recovering in Australia. That event and when he was in the first US Marine landing on Guadalcanal were the only things he ever spoke about, and neither got more than a few words from him. He passed away in 1981 and I think he really wanted to take those memories away with him.
still_one
(91,965 posts)scottie10
(101 posts)I found your post interesting. Several years ago I lived near a man who said he was there when the flag was raised and the men credited in the photo were not actually the ones there.
still_one
(91,965 posts)with different people. While it is more than understandable his disappointment, the monument was to honor all those who fought in that terrible battle, and I would extend it to Okinawa which followed after
The photographer of the first picture was killed in the battle of Iwo Jima
Lots of casualties occurred there
DinahMoeHum
(21,737 posts)1st flag lowered down as 2nd flag goes up:
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)Thought it supposedly triggered a spontaneous counterattack.
underpants
(182,279 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)What an unimaginable battle--even the sanitized War Department propaganda is horrific:
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)He never spoke about it but my mother said he was in tears when he left the ceremony opening the monument of the flag raising.