The Wrong Men on the Statue
A mother knew who was in the photograph before the Marine Corps did. It took the Corps seventy-four years to finish correcting it.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
Belle Block looked at a newspaper photograph from Iwo Jima and pointed at the man at the foot of the flagpole. That, she said, was her son Harlon. The Marine Corps said it was Henry Hansen. Joe Rosenthal's picture showed no faces. The names had come from Rene Gagnon, one of the men who came home, looking at an enlargement. James Bradley, who later wrote the story, gives her reply: she had "changed so many diapers on that boy's butt, I know it's my boy."
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
US Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia, run by the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Open-air public memorial. Check the park's page for ceremonies and hours.
Sources
- National Park Service: US Marine Corps War Memorial
- Good Morning America: Marines correct identity of member raising flag in iconic Iwo Jima photo
- The Blaze: Iwo Jima's flag-raising photograph
- Wikipedia: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
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