12-335 Garand Picture of the Day - Sands Of Iwo Jima

[Mark in Rochester]

"Sands Of Iwo Jima"

Actor John Wayne as Marine Sgt. platoon ldr. in scene fr. the movie "Sands of Iwo Jima."

Date taken:July 1949

Photographer:Ed Clark


Apparently, this movie has the first ever recorded use of the phrase "lock and load", said by John Wayne. "Lock and load" is a military command meaning to apply a weapon's safety catch, and then load it with ammunition. The expression was used once in this film for this meaning and once as a metaphor to get drunk, as in get loaded.




A number of actual military personnel portrayed themselves. These included retired Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, who was the 5th Amphibious Corps commander and who also acted as a technical advisor; Col. David M. Shoup, USMC, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor; Capt. Harold G. Schrier, USMC, who commanded the Marines on the Suribachi slopes; Lt. Col. H.P. Crowe, USMC, who was a battalion commander on Tarawa; Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon; Pfc. Ira H. Hayes; and PM 3/c John H. Bradley.


In one scene, combat veteran Sgt. Stryker (John Wayne) instructs bumbling recruit Pvt. Choynski (Hal Baylor) on the correct way to march and hold a rifle. In real life Baylor was an ex-Marine who fought in the battles of Saipan and Tinian in WW II; Wayne had never served in the military.


Following the success of the movie, John Wayne was invited to place his footprints in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theater. As part of the event, actual black sand from Iwo Jima was flown to Hollywood and mixed into the cement in which The Duke left his footprints and "fist print".

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