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A relic comes home
Flag from Iwo Jima installed at Marine Corps Museum
Date published: 10/14/2006
By JENN ROWELL The fierce 72-hour battle for Iwo Jima resulted in the deaths of more than 6,000 Marines and sailors and the birth of an image that would come to symbolize American determination. "The fighting was so intense the firing was almost like going through a rain of bullets, and that's why it was such a bloody battle," retired Marine Col. Avery Chenoweth said yesterday of the famous World War II invasion of the small Pacific island. Chenoweth is a military historian and combat artist working with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation to prepare the National Museum of the Marine Corps for the opening next month. Yesterday, he came to the museum off Interstate 95 to see the installation of the U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured that dramatic moment in 1945 in what quickly became the defining image of World War II. "The flag represents the single event that captured the American nation toward the end of the war to keep morale high," said Maj. Gen. Donald Gardner, president of the Marine Corps University at Quantico. "The flag raising is very symbolic for the Marines." Chenoweth said the Iwo Jima flag is as historic as the one raised over Fort McHenry in 1814 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner." After U.S. forces captured Iwo Jima from the Japanese, President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the popularity of Rosenthal's photograph and used the flag itself to promote the sale of war bonds. After the bond tour, the Marine Corps acquired the flag, and it was used in publicity shots for the John Wayne film "Sands of Iwo Jima." After all that traveling, the Marines are happy for the flag to have a home. "Hopefully, it will stay in this building forever," said Neal Abelsma, the museum's curator of uniforms and heraldry. The flag will be prominently displayed in the museum's World War II gallery. Across the room are Marine and Navy emblems for each man killed on Iwo Jima. Helping install the flag yesterday was Marine Sgt. Willis Jones. He's looking forward to bringing his 8-month-old daughter to the museum to share the history with her. "Our Marines have a strong sense of history and something like the Iwo Jima flag is an honor," he said. The 118,000-square-foot museum will be dedicated Nov. 10 to coincide with the 231th birthday of the Marine Corps. The facility will serve as an important educational tool, Chenoweth said, and also a place for Marines to reflect on their past. "Every Marine will want to see it," he said. "It brings back a lot of memories. A lot of Marines know their history and a lot of new Marines are learning, so this gives them an opportunity to see what their glorious history has been about." "This does not promote war," he said. "This reflects how we have fought to defend the nation in times of war." To reach JENN ROWELL:
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 10/14/2006
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