...Nineteen stainless steel statues were sculpted by Frank Gaylord and were made to depict the multiple races that fought in the war. The soldiers are standing amongst Juniper buses to symbolize the harsh terrain soldiers faced. The memorial was dedicated on the 42d anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the conflict. The Vietnam War began in 1955 when the Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong fought over bringing Vietnam under communist rule. The United States joined on March 8th, 1965 on a general mission to stop the spread of Communism. A 3-acre...
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...The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields (including the South Field and the Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands.[2] This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II. After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base.[4] However, Navy Seabees rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s.[5] The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels.[6][7] The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.[8] Iwo Jima was also the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the American casualties exceeded the Japanese, although Japanese combat deaths numbered three times the number of American deaths...
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...The island Iwo Jima was founded by a sailor Bernardo de la Torre and name it sulfur island in October 1543. Iwo Jima was a battle between America and the Japanese that took place on February 19th 1945 D-day during World War II. D-day was also known as the day which combat attack will be initiated. That day there was 450 plus ships lined up on the shores of the island. Iwo Jima was part of a three point plan that the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. Iwo Jima is a very small pacific island 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide covered in volcanic rock. It is located at the foot of the Bonin Chain of Islands south of the main Japanese Island of Honshu. Although the Island is quite small it is considered to the Great tactical importance. Since the island was so important the Japanese were determined to keep control of it....
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...The American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War 11 stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast . Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting, and the battle earned a place in American lore with the publication of a photograph showing the U.S. flag being raised in victory. The flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi took place on February 23, 1945; five days after the...
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...the top was a feat unlike any they had imagined. It took four days of intense fighting to reach the top of Mount Suribachi. Five United States Marines and one Navy corpsman stood atop Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945 and raised an American flag signifying that they had taken the top of the volcanic mountain during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The picture, taken by Joe Rosenthal, became one of the most recognizable photos of the war. This photo instills a sense of patriotism in any American that sees it. Seeing the flag at the top of the mountain was a great motivator for the troops still landing at the beach below. The United States had taken heavy casualties trying to get to the top of the mountain. The Japanese were dug in to pill boxes, a hidden fighting position through which the Japanese would attack the Americans with machine guns, which were connected via tunnels, to other defensive fighting positions. As soon as the Americans had cleared one pill box and were moving on, more Japanese troops would occupy the previously cleared pill boxes and start killing more of the American troops. The order to take the island of Iwo Jima was probably a daunting one to all the American fighting men. Most of the men had never been in a real battle. Arriving and seeing that many men were wounded or killed trying to accomplish the mission would cause any man to rethink his position in the military. Yet, countless Marines and naval personnel were given the task to do just...
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...Phillip Padgett 2/20/15 Mrs. Sehorn/Mr.Hills SS/LA Battle of Iwo Jima Picture it, explosions everywhere, men dying at every corner, the smell of gunpowder in the air, screaming mortars flying through the air that blew up numerous Americans.I just gave you ingredients to The Battle of Iwo Jima, in 1945, a battle in which the Americans attacked the Japanese for claiming Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is actually an island around 570 miles away from mainland Japan, Iwo Jima in Japanese translates to “Sulfur Island” in Japanese, and was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese Navy and Army and was the only battle in which the Americans suffered more casualties than the Japanese did, Americans suffered 5,372 casualties, originally there were 11,250 men enlisted in the battle. 1,131 American soldiers died in the fight and...
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...By: S. O'Malley The battle for Iwo Jima was perhaps one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific campaign. The island of Iwo Jima was worth strategical importance to the U.S. and the Empire of Japan. For the Americans, Iwo Jima was the one island causing problems for their bombing raids on Tokyo. With Iwo Jima in Allied hands, bombers could fly through the Pacific and bomb Tokyo without problems. For the Japanese Iwo protected them from bombers and attacks, but it was more important to them for another reason. Iwo was Japanese soil or sacred ground to them, it was a matter of pride, no invading army had ever successfully invaded Japan. The U.S. Marine Corps strategy for taking Iwo was simple and straightforward. Three Marine Corps divisions were to invade Iwo Jima. The 4th and 5th divisions first task was to secure Mt. Suribachi and the surrounding area. Then with support from the 3rd Marine division they would advance northeast and secure the rest of Iwo Jima. The Japanese plan of defense was much more intricate and complicated. The Japanese commander General Kuribayashi constructed a massive tunnel network throughout Mt. Suribachi and the island. Mt. Suribachi was honeycombed with over 1,500 rooms underground. The surface of the island was covered in concealed foxholes, pillboxes, blockhouses, and other assorted structures. He had two more parts to this strategy. He told his troops that there was no surrender. To surrender was to bring dishonor on their family. The...
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...418,500 Americans died during World War 2 and we honored them with a memorial. The World War 2 Memorial honors the 16 million members of the armed forces of the United States. There is so much symbolism in the World War 2 Memorial and they all have a very important meaning. There are 24 bronze bas-relief which represent America’s experience in the war and it is also the ceremonial entrance. There are also 4,048 gold stars which remind all of the price over 400,000 Americans paid to win the victory and each star represents 100 Americans. The 56 Granite columns represent the 48 states, seven federal territories, and the district of columbia during the war. The pillars are connected by a bronze sculpted rope that symbolizes the bond of the nation....
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...Toni Baldock 10 October 2012 The Eye in the Lens As a child, I loved looking at the pictures in the National Geographic magazine. I was intrigued by the cultural differences from around the world. I was amazed to see photographs of African woman bare breasted and comfortable with themselves. To me it has always been shameful for any women to be bare breasted because that was what I was raised to believe; that is the way of our culture. The magazine took me to many lands and showed me things I knew nothing about. This was when I became aware of the world around me. I realized I wanted to be a part of more than the town I lived in, the school I went to, or the people I knew. Through the eyes of documentary photographers I have seen the world from many different points of view, but I want to see the world in an intimate experience. I have a deep desire to engage with other cultures and capture moments that the rest of the world will be able to see through my photographs. I want to one day soon become a documentary photographer. Documentary photography is an effort to create a truthful expression of lives and cultures of our world and human actions. It can only be truthful and honest if it is left unedited and captures true events as they are happening. Hans Durrer is an author and intercultural coach. He describes photography as this: “Photography is still about the eye behind the lens. It is about being a filter, and it is about recording. It is about leaving one’s home...
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...fought a battle of courage, fear, anguish but above all the sense of patriotism and unity that the American people and soldiers felt when the battle was over and the faint glimmer of peace finally ignited. In the pacific Iwo Jima is quite an insignificant little six mile wide island covered in volcanic ash and hardly any vegetation with mount Suribachi a dormant volcano towering over the rest of the island. Its military vantage in 1944: none. It was originally a deserted island where ample smuggling took place for many centuries, but in 1917 the Japanese decide to set up on Iwo Jima a radio station, 5 soldiers, and 1 weatherman besides that no other major improvement took place until starting of WWII when Japan was being threatened by the U.S strategy of “island hopping”, strategy of attacking each separate island and trying to demolish it before the Japanese knew what was happening. It was a U.S type blitzkrieg using the same lightning speed the only difference was it attacked each little island in the pacific which was slow and quite gruesome. With the American invasion of the Marshalls in early February 1945, following the crippling strikes against the Truk Islands that same month, the Japanese imperial high command voted to take serious steps to reinforce Iwo because of the threat of the fall of the Marianas and Carolines Islands. In February of that same year the buildup began. Antiaircraft guns, rifles, cannons, men, tanks, etc. Japanese soldiers started arriving from other...
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...Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima by James Bradley with Ron Powers. The novel I read was adapted for young people by Michael French and published in 2001. The author, James Bradley, intended to retell the lives of the men in the infamous flag raising statue. Among these figures were James Bradley’s father, John Henry Bradley. Since few people knew who these young heroes were that raised the flag, James Bradley was going to make it clear the intention of these men’s lives and their dedication to the United States of America. James Bradley spent four years of his life researching with these six men’s families about what they knew of their relatives’ lives. As time progressed, James Bradley realized that these men all had one thing in common. They were all humble men that fought in the battle at Iwo Jima to defend their lives’ of their families and of those around them. James Bradley was one of eight children. His mother was named Elizabeth Van Gorp. In the beginning of this novel, the author introduced the men and their individual lives before the war. Each man had his life ahead of him. The six flag raisers, John Bradley, Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, and Rene Gagnon, and all young men in America were planning their futures regarding women whom they would marry, what job...
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...In Flags of our Fathers, by James Bradley, a venture of six strangers is conveyed through text. Flag of Our Fathers details the different backgrounds of each of the six men in unforgettable imagery and gives a history of the war. It enlightens the unknown details of a heroic picture regarded and taught to many. James Bradley, the son of one of the flag raisers, travels and researches the true stories of John Bradley, Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and Mike Strank. Although these six men are the greatest symbol of the battle at Iwo Jima it is mainly because of the image not their stories. There were other heroes of the war and this is one reason why John Bradley did not say much about his experiences at Iwo Jima. John believed he was not the hero, that the heroes were the men lost in battle. Curiosity was a primary reason James Bradley decided to research this topic. Bradley explains why John never said a word about what happened, including never mentioning an award he received. He wanted to know why his father never spoke of war and why they only learned about what happened after he had passed. James’ interest pushed him to learn if the other five men affected by this image shared the same beliefs as his father....
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...Flags of our Fathers “Flags of Our Fathers" is a very famous novel, based on true events, that describes one of our country's most popular, historic events. James Bradley is not only the author of the book, but also the son of one of the flag raisers in the novel. The story tells us about the six heroes who rose the United States flag during the bloody battle of Iwo Jima. These men, were not just any ordinary flag raisers; they were men who symbolized our countries strength, honor, victory, and courage, during one of the nations greatest battles. Bradley begins the story by stating that his father, John Bradley, kept to himself when it came to discussing the events of Iwo Jima, the flag raising, and the events that followed. He explains that this was the reason in which he decided to research the 6 lives of the men who now are commemorated in museums, statues, and history books all around the world. These 6 men consisted of John Bradley, who was from Appleton, Wisconsin; Ira Hayes, who was a Pima Indian from a reservation in Phoenix, Arizona; Harlon Block, who was from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas; Mike Strank, who was a Czech immigrant, but raised in Pennsylvania; Franklin Sousley, who was from Hilltop, Kentucky; and Rene Gagnon, who was from Manchester, New Hampshire. They were all young men, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-four. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, our nation’s attitude towards WWII changed. Many young men realized that our country was in desperate...
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...| Head Quarters United States Marine Corps | Date: 11/27/12 Re: Art Selections for the Office As requested I have selected six new paintings, three Impressionist and three Post-Impressionist works. The works are to be placed along the large wall in the main lobby of the building in the order listed below. The order starts with two works depicting everyday life while in theatre, followed by two emotionally charged works that have become iconic for our beloved Marine Corps, completed by two works of everyday day life in theatre. The idea is for the viewer to scan the works left to right; starting with an introduction to our mission: combat readiness; moving to two historical benchmarks, one from our past and one from the present; completed by two works depicting Marines in the mission. TITLE | Touchdown | ARTIST | Howard A. Terpning | DESCRIPTION | Marines exiting a helicopter in Vietnam. The Marines are in dark hues of earth greens, with dark shading and shadowing. The Marines are being dropped in a background of a golden field that undetectably fades into the golden/orange background. | STYLE | Post-Impressionism: Focusing more on the subject matter of the Marines, then the landscape. Captured as hastily as the Marines exit with rapid strokes, dark pigments, laid in rugged, thick paint. Solid patches of color make the background while the subject matter is more clearly defined. (Sayre, pp. 1092-1093) | HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE | This work is important because...
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...When I think of “American Spirit”, so many images come to my mind: everyone coming together on Memorial Day to honor those we have lost, raising the flag at Iwo Jima, and strangers helping strangers after the bombing at the Boston Marathon. American spirit has an effect on how Americans live today. It has only done our country good and brings people, friends and families together. When I looked up the definition, it surprised me how the word’s definitions fit how I think of the American Spirit. The first definition that I came across out of many was, “the vital principle or animating force within living beings”, this could not be any more true to me. Some people think of American spirit differently, so there is always going to be contrasting definitions....
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