June 6, 2011
Incase the summer weather was getting to hot for you - this should cool you down. My hubby took these shots one snowy day. We don't prefer to travel downtown because of all the chaos (and unannounced street closures)...and traffic and crowds - but sometimes, on the right day - it is just perfect.
Well, I started to trace the rumor of there being thirteen hands on the Iwo Jimo memorial, and I found a story about a man that met the son of one of the six brave men raising the American flag. And he knew all about the other men. The bronze statue depicts a photograph that was taken of six men raising the flag at the top of Mount Surabachi during WWII.
Harlon Block - is the man that you see putting the flag in the ground. He was an all-state football player. All the seniors on his high school team enlisted in the Marine Corps. Harlon died at the age of 21. Most boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18 and 19 years old.
Rene Gagnon - at the time the photo was taken, Rene kept a photograph of his girlfriend in his helmet. He kept it there because he was scared. He was 18.
Sergeant Mike Strank - 24 years old and was the hero to many of the boys.
Ira Hayes - a Pima Indian from Arizona. One of 27 that walked off Iwo Jima alive.
Franklin Sousley - a fun-loving hillbilly boy. Died at the age of 19.
John Bradly - the dad of the man telling about the rest of the boys presented in the statue. He lived until 1994. He was a medic and he took no interviews about this statue. He did not feel he was a hero. He said the hero's were the ones that were left behind.
I share this - not because I like little pieces of history...interesting history...history to make it personal (I think the school systems could do SO MUCH MORE with all these little known facts). I share this because I've lived here all my life and have driven by this statue more times than I can remember. I hope that this monument is more than just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out to you as it is to me now. Now its personal.
And the rumor - There are only 12 hands in the memorial. The existence of a 13th hand that was added by the sculptor to symbolize all other Marines or the hand of God, is not true.
Incase the summer weather was getting to hot for you - this should cool you down. My hubby took these shots one snowy day. We don't prefer to travel downtown because of all the chaos (and unannounced street closures)...and traffic and crowds - but sometimes, on the right day - it is just perfect.
above is one of my favorites...
I always thought this one looked like ski tracks (above).
Well, I started to trace the rumor of there being thirteen hands on the Iwo Jimo memorial, and I found a story about a man that met the son of one of the six brave men raising the American flag. And he knew all about the other men. The bronze statue depicts a photograph that was taken of six men raising the flag at the top of Mount Surabachi during WWII.
Harlon Block - is the man that you see putting the flag in the ground. He was an all-state football player. All the seniors on his high school team enlisted in the Marine Corps. Harlon died at the age of 21. Most boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18 and 19 years old.
Rene Gagnon - at the time the photo was taken, Rene kept a photograph of his girlfriend in his helmet. He kept it there because he was scared. He was 18.
Sergeant Mike Strank - 24 years old and was the hero to many of the boys.
Ira Hayes - a Pima Indian from Arizona. One of 27 that walked off Iwo Jima alive.
Franklin Sousley - a fun-loving hillbilly boy. Died at the age of 19.
John Bradly - the dad of the man telling about the rest of the boys presented in the statue. He lived until 1994. He was a medic and he took no interviews about this statue. He did not feel he was a hero. He said the hero's were the ones that were left behind.
I share this - not because I like little pieces of history...interesting history...history to make it personal (I think the school systems could do SO MUCH MORE with all these little known facts). I share this because I've lived here all my life and have driven by this statue more times than I can remember. I hope that this monument is more than just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out to you as it is to me now. Now its personal.
And the rumor - There are only 12 hands in the memorial. The existence of a 13th hand that was added by the sculptor to symbolize all other Marines or the hand of God, is not true.
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