Click on this link http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20080428,00.html to see the latest from Time magazine. The editors of the magazine have once again blundered into sacred American ground. Ground that was won with American blood. The photo depicts a famous scene from WWII, the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.
In February of 1945 approximately 70,000 U.S. Marines invaded the island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is a small dot in the vast Pacific ocean. It is a dormant volcano that is composed mostly of black sand, rock, and sparse jungle. Defending the island were 22,000 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese army had dug an elaborate system of underground catacombs and interconnecting tunnels. They created deadly crossfire avenues so that practically every square inch of the island was covered with fire lanes from artillery, mortars, machine guns, and rifles. The prize of the island was an airfield. The advancing American armada marching across the Pacific needed the airfield to refuel bombers and to house advanced fighter escort squardron's.
The Japanese defenders were ordered to fight to the death with the goal of every soldier to take 10 Americans with them. They knew they would never leave the island alive. Over the next 36 days, the Marines and the Japanese fought to the death. The battle became one of the bloodiest in all of modern history. 21,000, yes 21,000 Japanese soldiers died. The Marines lost 6,300 dead with thousands more wounded and maimed for life. After just 2-3 days, the island became a giant open sepulchre with dead and decaying bodies everywhere. The stench was unimaginable. The battle became one of small groups of Marines taking the fight to the enemy, inch by deadly inch. Men went days without sleep. At night, the Japanese would carry out sneak attacks armed with bayonets and knives. They would slip into foxholes and slit throats as they could. They would take Marines hostage and torture them to death. But in the end, the indomitable spirit of the U.S. Marine won the day.
The raising of the flag on Mt. Surabachi sent a message of hope to families back home in the states. People could see through the photograph that the U.S. was winning the war, and would soon be victorious. The flag represented the bloody sacrifice and bitter war that our forces in the Pacific and in Europe were fighting for the cause of freedom. It is just a photograph but it had a real and true meaning behind it.
And then comes Time Magazine............who sees fit to replace the American flag with.....a tree..all in the name of "earth day".
WHAT A DISGRACE TO THE AMERICAN MILITARY.
I love trees, I love forests, I love mountains and lakes and oceans and everything beautiful that God created. But when a tree replaces the American flag in a photograph that still has meaning today...that is going to far.
But then the editors at Time magazine will do what they want. Why, because they are free to do so. And why are they free to do so.....
Because better people then them are willing to fight for that freedom everyday.
So its ok Time magazine, you go right on printing what you want. Our military is made of better stuff than you and they can take it.
