Too bad you can't get there except by permission. Grandpas friend went there and didn't get much time at all at the top monument
my co-worker was there..I've posted the pictures before.........hell, horror, death, ....a totally different world, planet....thousands of humans trying to kill the other thousands of humans who were mostly underground....
That really gets you right in the heart. I am always touched by Rosenthal's photo of the second flag-raising, and I am touched by Lou Lowery's photo of the first flag raising, and all of the other photos of those two events and of the Battle of Iwo Jima. But seeing the video, which makes it seem a little more real and less iconic, and knowing so many of those men never made it home, really cuts deep.
I received a call to my newspaper from a 91-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who lives a county away. He was a signalman aboard an APA attack transport ferrying troops to land on Iwo Jima. He said he grabbed the long glass that day and saw the first raising of the flag. He'd like to know if anyone is still around who saw what he saw so he can talk to them about it. I'd like to put Ivan in touch with anyone who might have firsthand knowledge of the day. My email is johnrmoses@yahoo.com. He does not seem to be on the Internet, but I have his contact info.