While it is easy to see PC run amok in the creation of this
statue, we must remember that images such as this are seldom historically
accurate (at least not in that way). The image of the flag raising on Iwo
Jima was staged and restaged. It was entered into the popular lexicon and
been manipulated endlessly and yet for most Americans it retains an
authenticity.
         While I personally find the reworked statue a bit sickening, it
reveals far more about our nation and our society during the time of
tragedy then the photo does.

>Bronze statue a moving tribute or PC run amok?
>
>
>
>By Stephanie Gaskell
>
>The Associated Press
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  NEW YORK — A statue based on the famous photograph of the
> flag-raising at the World Trade Center site is being criticized because
> the three white firefighters in the picture have been transformed into
> one white, one black and one Hispanic.
>
>  Some firefighters and their families say the 19-foot bronze is political
> correctness run amok and an attempt to rewrite history.
>
>  The $180,000 sculpture is expected to be erected this spring at the Fire
> Department's Brooklyn headquarters in tribute to 343 firefighters killed
> in the attack. It is based on the Sept. 11 newspaper photo of
> firefighters raising the U.S. flag on about 20 feet of rubble.
>
>  The decision to represent different races was made by the Fire
> Department, maker of the statue, and the property-management company that
> owns the department headquarters building and commissioned the work.
>
>  "Given that those who died were of all races and all ethnicities and
> that the statue was to be symbolic of those sacrifices, ultimately a
> decision was made to honor no one in particular, but everyone who made
> the supreme sacrifice," Fire Department spokesman Frank Gribbon said.
>
>  But Tony Marden of Ladder 165 in Queens called the decision "an insult
> to those three guys to put imaginary faces on that statue. It's not a
> racial thing. That shouldn't even be an issue."
>
>  And Carlo Casoria, who lost his firefighter son, Thomas, said: "They're
> rewriting history in order to achieve political correctness."
>
>  The three firefighters in the photo — Dan McWilliams, George
> Johnson and Billy Eisengrein — declined to comment. But their
> lawyer, Bill Kelly, said the men are "disappointed because it's become
> something that is political as opposed to historical."
>
>  He said he has written to the management company and the department,
> asking them to stop production of the statue.
>
>  But Kevin James, a member of the Vulcan Society, which represents black
> firefighters, welcomed the design.
>
>  "The symbolism is far more important than representing the actual
> people," he said. "I think the artistic expression of diversity would
> supersede any concern over factual correctness."
>
>  Of the city's 11,500 firefighters, 2.7 percent are black and 3.2 percent
> Hispanic, Gribbon said. Twelve firefighters who died were black; the
> number of Hispanic victims was not available.
>
>  A clay model of the statue, created by StudioEis in Brooklyn, was
> unveiled Dec. 21. Gribbon and studio director Ivan Schwartz said the
> statue, while based on the photo taken by Tom Franklin was not meant to
> be an exact replica.
>
>  The photo has been likened to the 1945 Associated Press photograph of
> men raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
>
>  "We were quite shocked that the image was altered," said Jennifer Borg,
> attorney for North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record and
> holds the copyright. The Fire Department sought rights to reproduce the
> photo, she said, but the company did not sign an agreement.
>
>  Gribbon said the department had not received any official complaints
> about the statue.
>
>But John Gilleeny, a retired New York firefighter who edits an e-mail
>newsletter about the department, said he has received hundreds of e-mails
>protesting the decision.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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