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Picture looks staged to me. No belt in the M1917, no smoke on Mt. Suribachi, no dead Marines, no visible landing craft.
At 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, the first wave of Marines landed on the beaches of the southeastern coast of Iwo Jima. After allowing the Americans to concentrate men and machinery on the beach for just over an hour, Kuribayashi engaged his countermeasures. Shortly after 10:00, machine guns, mortars, and heavy artillery began to rain down on the crowded beach
I suspect that the photo was taken in that window of time. To many troops spread out down the beach for it to be staged
My God Father hit that beach. One of the few to make it home from his unit.
Later 42rocker
It's the boots that has me wondering when the pic was taken. No leggin's in sight. They're tall leather boots, not the double buckle boots. These are looking like the high top boot adopted by the USMC in the late 40's or early 50's. Made by General shoe corp. Note the speed lace eyes and the top of the back strap. The near man and the farther man have them too. Also their pants are bloused above the boot. I don't believe this is time correct. There is a .50 cartridge and a couple loose .30s lying near the near man.
More... 1956 Iwo Jima USMC Marines Reenact Historic WWII Landing Original Press Photo | eBay
Nice follow up on the photo
It would have been far more interesting to have wandered the island back then than now. Considering the live ammunition lying in the open there, imagine how much stuff would have been there then? Of course there would have been Marines that were still serving that fought there.
Hard to fool real students! Nice job (a) identifying the faults and (b) finding what it really shows. I'm impressed.
Having a post-war exercise on the very same island and beaches would be sure to leave a lasting impression on the participants.
Some suitably coloured ponchos would probably have saved a lot of lives the first time around.
Looking at Mt. Surbachi it appears to have plant growth on it. It was totally divested of plant growth during the battle. In the pacific islands plants grow pretty fast in 10 or so years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapper740