After studying OWH column, 'Flags of Our Fathers' author James Bradley says father isn't in iconic I
Source: Omaha World Herald
By Matthew Hansen
The truth is weird.
Nearly two years ago, I wrote a column summarizing the research of an Omahan and an Irishman who believed and could show that what the Marine Corps, history books, a New York Times best-seller and a hit movie had long told us about the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising photo simply wasnt true.
Eric Krelle and Stephen Foleys research was startling, especially to history nerds like yours truly. It appeared to show that John Bradley, the famed flag-raiser and the father of best-selling Flags of Our Fathers author James Bradley, wasnt pictured in that iconic photo. It showed that a previously unknown man named Harold Schultz, a Marine grunt who became an anonymous Los Angeles postal employee, appeared to be standing in plain view in the most-reproduced photo in American history.
The truth is weird, because the story came out and the Iwo Jima experts, including the Flags of Our Fathers author himself, did ... nothing. The Marine Corps brushed the story off with a short statement. An esteemed historian told me he would rather go fishing than look at the research.
FULL story at link
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Marine Corps has launched a review of the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising photo. Omaha amateur historian Eric Krelle said in 2014 that one of the Marines in the photograph had been incorrectly identified by the Corps.
Read more: http://www.omaha.com/columnists/hansen/hansen-after-studying-owh-column-flags-of-our-fathers-author/article_685c1f78-1178-11e6-8081-ebf1f0b2b99d.html
TygrBright
(20,780 posts)If I were a history teacher, this is what we'd be reviewing today. This is the practice of history, in a nutshell.
It illustrates all the strengths and weakness of history as we know it.
Just lovely.
appreciatively,
Bright
FairWinds
(1,717 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)malthaussen
(17,241 posts)... nice insights into what people think is/is not important.
-- Mal