The Flag Raising

“The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.” – Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

Sixty-six years ago today, February 23, 1945, six U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman raised the American flag on Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi on the fifth day of a thirty-five day battle, one of the most intense in World War II. Of the six flag raisers, three would die in battle shortly thereafter. The Americans would suffer 26,038 casualties, of which 6,821 would die on an island 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. The number of U.S. casualties at Iwo Jima was greater than the total Allied casualties on D-Day.

With the battle still raging, the iconic, Pulitzer-Prize winning photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal has often been described as the most famous photograph ever taken. The image was the basis for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The three surviving flag raisers became national celebrities as they eventually traveled the country in endless bond drives, so far from the horrors they had experienced at Iwo Jima.

Marines have flag raising in their DNA. From Iwo to Hue City to Baghdad, there always seems to be a Marine with a flag when the situation arises. I have seen the actual flag raised on Iwo Jima, and the sight of it made my throat constrict. I cannot remember viewing any other museum artifact that affected me so instantly and so deeply as did the sight of that slightly faded, bullet-scarred flag.

No one could have known that such a seemingly simple flag-raising would result in something as symbolic and powerful and enduring as those Marines and that flag pictured atop Suribachi.

To the Marines of Iwo Jima, Semper Fi.

I’m Really Tired of Lindsay Lohan

I don’t know about you, but I’ve become sick of hearing about the disaster that is Lindsay Lohan, to a point where I feel like an hour of primal screaming would only partly assuage the frustration. Hers is often the lead story on national news programs—television and radio—and it always seems to fit into a pattern of ill-advised behavior ranging from drug/alcohol abuse, alleged theft of jewels or designer clothes, courtroom appearances, relentless partying, probation violations, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

She commands more space on the national airwaves than an American hero recently awarded the Medal of Honor for an astonishing act of physical and moral bravery. We have U.S. medical researchers hot on the trail of a potentially dramatic vaccine that can fight against any flu virus—just one vaccine! Our country has a debt that is on schedule to make our nation a bankrupt, third-world debtor nation whose bonds and buildings and banks belong to the Chinese. We have Marines and soldiers in vicious combat in Afghanistan on a daily basis, some dying, many being wounded, in a fight against an enemy and an ideology that wants to destroy us, the Great Satan. We have individuals and groups in our midst who are feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, educating the unschooled, repairing the cleft lips and palates of children, and donating everything from time and treasure to life-saving organs and blood.

And the decision makers who run the news organizations decide we need to hear about Lindsay Lohan. In prime time. In real time. All the time.

I certainly don’t wish anything calamitous on young Ms. Lohan; I’m just tired of seeing her face and hearing the same old stories. Ditto with Charlie Sheen and the Kardashians and Paris and Spencer and the rest. It used to be that individuals in the news were actually people of accomplishment, whether famously or infamously. Now it’s people deemed newsworthy doing absolutely nothing of consequence. What’s so newsworthy about lewd or childish behavior?

Of course, Jane Fonda raves about the talent of Ms. Lohan the actress, about how she cares about her “craft.” Jane Fonda is certainly a credible source. Ask the Vietnam vets.

I know what you’re thinking: It’s all about ratings. And, sadly, you’re right.

But what about the messages that are sent? The examples being set? Shouldn’t that count?

I know what we’re all thinking: Nope, not anymore.