Glendale "Bugler" - Iwo Jima

The U.S. flag was raised on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. You know the photo - it's seared in our memories. From THEATERS OF WAR: WE REMEMBER, here are two descriptions and two perspectives of what happened that day from two of the men who were there.

Bill Nolte: "In the middle of a firefight, I noticed a flag flying on Suribachi. We were laughing about it and joking that the island was secured and we could go back to Guam, all the while continuing to fight. An hour or two later the flag was down, and we feared the Japs had won the top. Next, somebody yelled, 'We got it back.' I wish that I could have seen it go up. It was the one that is now so famous."

Burns W. Lee, Combat Photographer: "Among the civilians who came ashore was Joe Rosenthal of AP Photos, who took the famous picture on the fourth day of the battle. Earlier that day, knowing that a flag had already been raised, Rosenthal had to be persuaded to make the hazardous climb up rock-strewn Mt. Suribachi when it was decided that the first flag was too small to be seen by the men from any distance. The second flag had to be raised by a group of five men in a big hurry so that it would be a simultaneous raising and lowering of flags (never two flags up at the same time). So Joe, with camera in hand, quickly scrambled up a bunch of adjoining hard rocks, turned, and instantly snapped the picture! Two weeks later, when we first heard that a picture by Rosenthal had made front pages all over America, he thought it was one he had taken of a completely different battle scene."

THEATERS OF WAR: WE REMEMBER is a vivid and dramatic document of World War II as seen through the eyes and told from the hearts of those who experienced it. The stories were compiled and edited by Wendy Lazar, owner of Glendale and ParadeStore. (In the interest of honest reporting, I'll confess - I'm also the one who writes this newsletter!) The foreword was written by former Senator Bob Dole, and all profits from the sale of this book are going to The National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. It is available through Glendale, ParadeStore.com, and can be ordered in bookstores. We've had reports that some bookstores are reporting problems. THEATERS OF WAR: WE REMEMBER is now available through Baker & Taylor, one of the largest bookstore distributors in the States. The softcover book has 360 pages and is priced at $19.95.

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Page last updated: 1 Jan 03