A Single Shot Can End The War

This picture shows the six US Marines raising a flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.


I remember having seen this picture in History books or some where else and it remained etched in my memory but I never came close to knowing the real "facts" or people behind this historic photograph. Until I saw this movie "Flag of Our Fathers" , last night.
And what a surprise !
It turned out to be a sort of revelation ...for, it depicted the life of those men who raised that flag in a manner that one could hardly believe!
Yes, these men were "Heroes" ...for what they did in the War....but for this very photograph, their life was never the same again.
A very compelling account of the after -effects on the minds and souls of the War 'Heroes' who actually fought and braved the bombs and the bullets but could not survive the act of glorification of this photograph... a story narrated effectively by producer/director Clint Eastwood.
As always, I am fascinated by stories based on the two World Wars....I just love the theme and the History and the mammoth size of it all....and especially if its by the legends of film-making...the likes of Steven Speilberg and Clint Eastwood. And this movie had all what I wanted to see...an 'inside' account of how the battle was fought...every detailing...the machinery, the tanks, the guns, the war-ships, the majestic battle scenes...and the luxury of watching History unfold before your eyes in the comfort of your couch or bed....
...and then it was so interesting to know the real facts of how this picture considered to be the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and came to be regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time!

Ten years after the flag-raising, Rosenthal ( the man who took the photograph) wrote:

" Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know."


Read all about it here :
Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima



Along with " Saving Private Ryan", " Letters from Iwo Jima", this spectacle " The Flag of our Fathers" will remain in my collection as one of the greatest war movies ever made...and the greatest tales ever told...by the greatest filmmakers !