>From: David Romanowski <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: flag- raising >Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 12:35:21 -0500 > >The flag raising on Iwo Jima was not staged; this is a myth that won't seem >to go away. Read James Bradley's recent and moving book "Flags of Our >Fathers," about the six (I think) men in that famous photo. Bradley's >father was one of them. The book also explains the source of the myth. >There were two flag raisings. The first went unrecorded on film, although >a couple of staged photos were taken of that flag after the fact. The >second flag raising occurred to replace the original flag with a larger >one, so it could be better seen from a distance. That flag raising was >recorded by both a motion picture camera and a still camera. The still >photo that became famous was one of those amazingly lucky >taken-at-just-the-right-second shots. It was most definitely not staged. >There was a native American in the group; he just happened to be among the >group that was there at the time. Half of the men who raised the flag >never walked off the island. The irony of the flag raisings was that the >first flag raising raised cheers all over the island and on the ships >offshore, while the second flag raising went virtually unnoticed until the >photograph of it was published. > >David Romanowski >Exhibits Writer-Editor >National Air and Space Museum > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).