Mount Suribachi

Photographs and films are two important tools that people use in their everyday lives. When something makes its way into our lives, a question arises about how these things are influencing our lives, changing our minds, and shaping our consciousness toward our world.

Media, History, and Collective Memory

In the dynamic interplay between media, history, and collective memory, the Battle of Iwo Jima can be one of the best examples to analyze. This important conflict, which happened during World War II between the Imperial Japanese Army and The United States Marine Corps, can be used as a case for understanding the relationship between representation and reality in the realm of conflict narratives. Many layers of meaning are rooted in this historical event, shaped and reshaped by films, textual accounts, and photographs.

With the phenomenon of social media, we now have access to an uncountable number of pictures and videos that are being watched every day. Especially regarding politics, these materials which exist around an event, a speech of a president, the comments of influencers, or social media activities—these all and many others are shaping how we understand history.

The Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima took place during World War II, from February 19 to March 26, 1945. It was a battle between the United States Marine Corps and the Imperial Japanese Army on the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean about 660 miles south of Tokyo. The name literally means "Sulphur Island." This island itself doesn't have specific resources, and the US assault force had planned to take the island in 4 days. The battle lasted 35 days.

The battle of Iwo Jima was significant because it was the first time that the US assaulted directly on Japanese imperial territory. In this battle, there was an enormously belligerent defensive force from Japanese forces.

"The Japanese fought honorably, and fought honorably to their code."

— James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers

Of every ten Japanese military servicemen, nine of them died as a result of this encounter, which shows the commitment of the Japanese to defend this island. Around 27,000 soldiers and military servicemen were injured or died in this conflict—the Japanese side shared 22,000 of them, and only 1,000 military servicemen survived.

Strategic Importance

Gaining control of the island was important for the United States for various factors. The first was for setting up a base for American aircraft B-29 for bombing Japan's main islands. After World War I, Americans spent 50% more budget for the B-29 aircraft project compared to the Manhattan Project. The reason was that if a bomber was in crisis going back to its main airstrips after the raid, Mount Suribachi was somewhere that it could land. So it was a forward base and a safety net base when the craft were working to the extent of their range.

"Historians described U.S. forces' attack against the Japanese defense as 'throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete.' In the end, Iwo Jima was won not only by the fighting spirit of the Marines, but by the meticulous planning and support provided by the Navy and Army through supply efforts, medical care, and air support."

Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood and released on October 20, 2006, is an adaptation from the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers. The main plot of the movie is about three soldiers who survived a battle at Iwo Jima and raised the American flag on the island during World War II. After returning from the battle, the government uses them as "heroes" to sell war bonds while they suffer from survivor's guilt.

Clint Eastwood in this movie sheds unique insight into the reality of the war and the untold stories of the American military during World War II. He touches on the reality of the politics of the American government towards its own people—how they manipulated the public's idea about the war, which was still happening, to be able to raise money and sell more bonds to support their military campaign against Japan.

Eastwood's Artistic Choices

In one of his interviews, Clint Eastwood explains his decision of not using color correction like most Hollywood movies. He emphasizes that he didn't want to glorify the war. He thought that correcting the colors, especially in the battle scenes, using more popular music and soundtrack, and changing his methods of cinematography would completely change the result—transforming the movie from something that uses documents as backup to something that is mainly for entertaining purposes.

"Most of the films, I like mute colors depending on the mood you're trying to set. In this particular movie, I just felt that the various present day, bond drive time period, wartime period, all had their own look so to speak. War is not a glamorous event... I just didn't want to glamorize it like Wizard of Oz."

— Clint Eastwood

Rosenthal's Iconic Photograph

Joe Rosenthal, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, said:

"Had I posed that shot, I would, of course, have ruined it. I'd have picked fewer men... I would have also made them turn their heads so that they could be identified for A.P. members throughout the country, and nothing like the existing picture would have resulted."

The accusation was that the photograph was posed. One fact about this photograph is that when the Associated Press received the image and then distributed it, Rosenthal didn't make the decision about what was printed. There were 4 photographers taking pictures at the time of the raising of the flag.

Why the Image Became Iconic

The important fact about this photo known as "Raising the Flag" was that at this time, the war was still going on—it was on the fourth day of the conflict and there was the better part of a month of fighting still going on. The picture was signaling the final victory and America's geographic dominance on one of the most prominent points of the regime at the time.

Key Characteristics:

The Struggle: The rubble and debris in the immediate foreground and the soldiers trying to put up the flag give an idea of struggling under adversity. It can mean: we have put a huge amount of effort for passing and overcoming these barriers to be able to reach this point to plant our flag—it wasn't an easy thing to do.

Anticipation of Triumph: The flag is not completely in an upright position. It means that we are still not at the end of the war. There is still a way to go but we are trying to reach victory. This is an anticipation of triumph about to be achieved.

Anonymous Heroes: We don't see any faces. We cannot single out the soldiers, we don't know their background, who they are, how old they are, or what were their jobs before the war started. This symbolizes anonymous heroes, the effort of all in military service towards a goal.

Cooperation: There are six men working together in concert; they don't have all the same roles. So it shows a communal effort and is symbolic of the sacrifices at home and the dangers and trepidation faced by those in the field.

Patriotism: The American flag, no need to mention the connection of the American flag to the American population, and how Americans respect it. The end victory is implied—it is not the end of the war and it is the 5th day of the war, but it is symbolic of perhaps a small triumph along the way.

Singularity of Purpose: We have an image capturing six men doing one thing; they have a clear focus and they want to get the job done.

The 7th War Bond Drive

America is widely regarded as having gotten out of the Great Depression as a result of government expenditure associated with the Second World War. The amount of money that the American federal government spent on lend-lease between April of 1941 and September of 1945 was equivalent to the entire federal expenditure from 1933 to 1939.

So the American government needed to persuade the public in general to once more transfer their private funds into government coffers by buying war bonds. This was the seventh drive, and the aim was to raise about 14 billion American dollars. The federal budget in 1945 was coming in at about $56 billion. So 14 billion is coming in at just about a quarter of total expenditure.

This was the most successful war bond drive of the Second World War, and many have attributed this to the way that the publicity around the flag raising at Iwo Jima was put forward.

Conclusion

By examining the Battle of Iwo Jima through the lens of media representation, we can understand the relationship between historical events, visual narratives, and collective memory. Through iconic photographs and cinematic interpretations—in this case "Flags of Our Fathers" directed by Clint Eastwood—we tried to understand the complexities of war propaganda, the manipulation of public perception, and the sacrifices of those involved in the conflict.

References

• Bradley, James and Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers, London, Pimlico, 2006
• Eastwood, Clint, Flags of Our Fathers, Warner Home Video, 2006
• U.S. Marine Corps History Division, "Battle for Iwo Jima"