After raising of first flag, it was decided to raise a second flag that was bigger so it could be seen by everyone, including the Naval ships off shore. The picture was taken simply as a recruiting poster, How ever every photo journalist in the world still considers it to be (72 years later) the most famous photograph ever taken. One pf the original copies hangs in the Marine's Memorial Hotel in San Francisco, California. It was originally presented to the San Francisco Press Club. Still a mystery{ Where is the original flag?

Almost a decade after I watched the movie in the cinema I watched it again and I cannot say I was as impressed as I was back then. Perhaps the movie doesn't translate well to DVD and perhaps a small screen doesn't do it justice, but my biggest issue is that I find most of the movie lacking in engaging personalities, captivating story and a well chosen creative music score. What struck me most to me was boring music. You know this solitary piano play or bugle to signify a pensive or sad mood? Well it's in there throughout the movie. Sometimes a few strings are added, but that is about it for variance. Only a few times we get a time related piece of music, but those feel like they were put in there by mistake. The personalities are on par with the dullness of the music. I can only recall the Chief, probably because he was an Indian and thus more of an individual than most and because he is the one with the biggest issues. All the others are as gray as most of the battle scenes, which must have been seen as a nifty idea to discern the battles scenes from the other scenes, but it hardly helps you get a fix on who is who.The movie loses even more focus because it displays events from three different periods: the fighting on the island, the campaign to raise money for the war effort directly after and 'today' when the son of one of the soldiers finds out what has happened from his dying father and the view remaining survivors. However, perhaps the worst thing is actually the 'message'. I just don't like messages; if you just show the stuff, it is a message enough. Now we have to be told the message and it is given in a blatant reversal trick - Orwellian in nature- that does the same as the normal cult of heroism by implying something different. Now they are heroes, not because they gave their lives for their country, but because they did it for their buddies. It is the same stuff, only the reason is different. Just a play of words. This cult of heroism mars the whole movie and is blatantly add odds with what is actually been told. These guys are just men that get stuck in a bad situation and made the most of it, but making them into a heroes, something different from the humans they were, just steals from their humanity. It is even more odd because the next movie clearly exposes the suicidal honor driven Japanese Bushido thinking for the nut-case philosophy it is. Dying for honor and country like the Japanese do.., now that is silly, but dying for your buddies, that is what heroism is all about. Yeah, those are true patriots. Of course they are.

In 1945, the picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima becomes an immediate icon. The six soldiers in the picture become instant celebrity heroes. Three of them are brought back to the states to sell Bonds. Corpsman John 'Doc' Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) continues to be haunted for the rest of his life. He and others Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), Hank Hansen (Paul Walker), Mike Strank (Barry Pepper), Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Franklin Sousley (Joseph Cross) train together and sent into Iwo Jima. They are led by Captain Severance (Neal McDonough). Rene Gagnon tells the brass that Ira Hayes was one of the flag raiser which truly angers him and which he denies. Keyes Beech (John Benjamin Hickey) and Bud Gerber (John Slattery) push the tour selling the picture and War Bonds. There is confusion about the two flags and controversy over who the true people in the picture. It's a darker compelling telling of the battle and its aftermath. It starts moody and even the battle isn't as heroic as expected. A man falls overboard and no ship stops to save him. The battle is ugly and bloody. There is a greyness to the battle that makes it almost black and white. The confusion adds depth to the characters and the reactions add substance. The fascinating thing about this is that their odyssey doesn't end after the battle. This is also a movie about the human condition. Adam Beach is especially good in a juicy role struggling with guilt and pride.

Just finished watching it and it's not a bad movie. It's not Clint Eastwood's best movie he directed nor is it the worse. The story is okay even though I find the whole flag thing a little bit stupid. But then is every war not stupid? Poor people going at war just to make a living, sponsored by rich people that won't risk their lives anyway. And then let's not even talk about the commanding officers and politicians that start those wars and that never will see a bullet or close combat in real life because they are in fact big power hungry cowards. The movie is enjoyable to watch and all actors did a good job. You really get that feeling that wars are stupid, certainly in this case, when they are fighting over a stupid rock. Nice movie to watch once.