Friday, February 23, 2007

On this Day in History



On this day the flag was raised on Iwo Jima, some 4 days after the Marines had landed on the island, although the battle for the island would continue on for more than 30 days.
The numbers are staggering when you think about, 110,000 Marines on 880 ships, nearly a quarter of those troops were casualties, with nearly 7000 Marines dead.

I wonder what America today, would do with these casualty rates.

If you have not had a chance to see Flags of Our Fathers or Letters from Iwo Jima, I would highly recommend that you do. Both movies give a telling snapshot into lives of Marines and Japanese Soldiers and what they endured.