The battle of Iwo Jima birthed two movies out of one iconic photograph
By dramatising what actually happened to anonymous figures in iconic photographs, like the one of six Marines raising a flag on the island of Iwo Jima during the Second World War.
“The biggest obstacle a B-29 pilot faced on his bombing run to Japan was the lethal triple whammy of danger presented by Iwo Jima,” wrote John Bradley in “Flags of Our Fathers” his magnificent history of the battle of Iwo Jima. “Athwart the direct path to Japan, the island was almost exactly halfway between the Marianas and Japan and boasted two airstrips and a radar station. As the Superforts approached Iwo on their way to Japan, the radar station would give mainland defenders a two-hour early warning. The gigantic B-29s, lumbering north on their 2,500 mile round trip flight to attack Japan, made easy targets for the small, quick fighter planes based on Iwo. And lastly, after enduring more anti-craft fire and dogfights over Japan, the B-29s, often damaged, would again be forced to face the Iwo-based fighters on their return trip.”
