# Rare color pics of Iwo Jima



## 7point62 (Nov 11, 2008)




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## American-n-NZ (Nov 11, 2008)

Thanks for sharing those!


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## 0699 (Nov 11, 2008)

Pictures like that always make me wonder.  Our forefathers went through so much to keep us free; are Americans today willing to do the same?  Not questioning my brothers and sisters willingness to go up the hill (I have no doubt in that), but America's willingness to let us fight so hard for our freedom.

Thanks for the pictures brother.


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## pardus (Nov 11, 2008)

Incredible pics.

I don't think people have the fortitude to do that anymore 0699. 
During WWII it was hard enough to convince people to support the war.

I think it would take something very very bad to get people to commit to that, 9/11 wasn't even enough...


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## 0699 (Nov 11, 2008)

pardus762 said:


> Incredible pics.
> 
> I don't think people have the fortitude to do that anymore 0699.
> During WWII it was hard enough to convince people to support the war.
> ...



  I'm willing to bet you're right, but I can always hope.


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## AWP (Nov 11, 2008)

Imagine taking Iwo Jima-like casualties during Operation Anaconda in 2002. We'd abandon Afghanistan yet again.

Shifting gears: Any recommended books on Iwo Jima and Okinawa? I think I'd like to do some reading about the battles.


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## 0699 (Nov 11, 2008)

Freefalling said:


> ... Shifting gears: Any recommended books on Iwo Jima and Okinawa? I think I'd like to do some reading about the battles.



_With the Old Breed_ by Eugene Sledge
_Helmet for my Pillow_ by Robert Leckie

I read both these for the first time in HS.  They've only gotten better with time.


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## AWP (Nov 11, 2008)

Thank you. I knew a Marine would have an answer. I'd be disappointed if one of you didn't. ;)


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## 0699 (Nov 11, 2008)

Freefalling said:


> Thank you. I knew a Marine would have an answer. I'd be disappointed if one of you didn't. ;)



Notice both my recommendations are "Marine" books.  Not that I'm biased or anything. :)

I know the Army had a LOT of soldiers on Okinawa; I'm just not aware of any books by/about them.


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## Gypsy (Nov 11, 2008)

Incredible pictures...thank you.


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## 7point62 (Nov 12, 2008)

The best account I have ever read about the battle--and I've read quite a few--is a book by Richard Wheeler called _Iwo._ He was a member of the platoon that raised the two flags on Mt. Suribachi.

I like it because he has detached himself far enough to present an objective POV of the whole battle without falling into sentimentality, while at the same time keeping those elements of gritty realism to help you smell the sand and the cordite, so to speak.

BTW, here are a few more:

The USS Tennessee, close-in bombardment.







And another of Suribachi.







These photos were taken by a Navy Lt on one of the smaller support ships.


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## whiterose (Nov 14, 2008)

Freefalling said:


> Shifting gears: Any recommended books on Iwo Jima and Okinawa? I think I'd like to do some reading about the battles.



Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley

I've read the above and Flyboys by James Bradley. Both are good and well-researched. The author is great for details. The only slight minus is that he sometimes goes into great detail with background stories, which some readers may find interesting, others not. 

Bradley is the son of one of the flag raisers at Iwo Jima. Everyone has seen the famous picture. He tells the story of each of them, how each grew up, joined the Marines, and (for those who survived) what they did after the war. Not surprisingly, he wrote most about his father. It is like taking a magnifying glass and zooming in on the individuals. 

He also gives a good overview of the battle itself and the brutality of the fighting. This book reinforces my firm belief that the US Marines are the best fighting unit ever.


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## 91stSPS (Nov 17, 2008)

0699 said:


> _With the Old Breed_ by Eugene Sledge
> _Helmet for my Pillow_ by Robert Leckie
> 
> I read both these for the first time in HS.  They've only gotten better with time.





I loved With The Old Breed, used to laugh my butt off with Sledge's tale of that salty Marine scrubbing himself with the hard bristled brush when he took a bath!!!:eek:


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## Typhoon (Nov 18, 2008)

Thanks for the incredible pictures.



> During WWII it was hard enough to convince people to support the war.


Not to my recollection of speaking with those who lived through that time (If you have evidence to the contrary I'd be interested to hear it). The American people were really pissed after Pearl Harbor...In the early days of the war Americans living on the west coast of the U.S. were scared that the Japanese would bomb them...And then there were the German subs operating at night on the east coast of the U.S. who used the city lights of places such as Boston, New York, and Jacksonville FL to sink merchant ships using the intercoastal waterway. The subs operated off the shoreline and were able to see the silhouettes of the merchant vessels in the city lights. Several merchant ships were sunk in the spring of 1942, including one ship torpedoed and sunk just a half mile off the shore in front of frightened patrons at a brightly lit amusement park in Jacksonville. The German sub activities got everybody's attention in a hurry.

Needless to say the government got their act together and enforced blackout rules by the end of spring 1942...


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## pardus (Nov 18, 2008)

Granted, early in the war people were overwhelmingly behind the war, but come '44 and particularly '45 the population was war weary and just wanted it over, the bond drives were doing very poorly (the movie 'Flags Of Our Fathers' covers this).


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## AWP (Nov 18, 2008)

Typhoon said:


> Thanks for the incredible pictures.
> 
> 
> Not to my recollection of speaking with those who lived through that time (If you have evidence to the contrary I'd be interested to hear it). The American people were really pissed after Pearl Harbor...In the early days of the war Americans living on the west coast of the U.S. were scared that the Japanese would bomb them...And then there were the German subs operating at night on the east coast of the U.S. who used the city lights of places such as Boston, New York, and Jacksonville FL to sink merchant ships using the intercoastal waterway. The subs operated off the shoreline and were able to see the silhouettes of the merchant vessels in the city lights. Several merchant ships were sunk in the spring of 1942, including one ship torpedoed and sunk just a half mile off the shore in front of frightened patrons at a brightly lit amusement park in Jacksonville. The German sub activities got everybody's attention in a hurry.
> ...



Check out Operation Drumbeat by Michael Gannon:
http://www.amazon.com/Operation-Drumbeat-Germanys-Attacks-American/dp/0060920882

There were also....3 or 4 instances of agents being landed on US and Canadian soil. One case near Ponte Vedra, FL (near Jacksonville) and the rest were up in the northeast US and into Canada.


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