If I haven’t said “Thank You” for awhile, well, sorry…Thank You!!
Richard Rothwell, 97, of Catonsville, Md., talks with a U.S. Marine Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at Mount Sribachi on Iwo Jima, Japan. Dozens of U.S. veterans, now in their 80s and 90s, returned to the remote volcanic island of Iwo Jima to mark the 65th anniversary of one of World War II’s fiercest battles.
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EDINA, Minn. — Charles W. Lindberg, the last survivor of the six Marines who raised the first American flag over Iwo Jima during World War II, has died. He was 86.
Lindberg died Sunday at Fairview Southdale hospital in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, said John Pose, director of the Morris Nilsen Funderal Home in Richfield, which is handling Lindberg’s funeral.
Lindberg spent decades explaining that it was his patrol, not the one captured in the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal, that raised the first flag over the island.
In the late morning of Feb. 23, 1945, Lindberg fired his flame-thrower into enemy pillboxes at the base of Mount Suribachi and then joined five other Marines fighting their way to the top. He was awarded the Silver Star for bravery.
“Two of our men found this big, long pipe there,” he said in a 2003 interview. “We tied the flag to it, took it to the highest spot we could find and we raised it.
“Down below, the troops started to cheer, the ship’s whistles went off, it was just something that you would never forget,” he said. “It didn’t last too long, because the enemy started coming out of the caves.”
The moment was captured by Sgt. Lou Lowery, a photographer from the Corps’ Leatherneck magazine, but three of the six men never saw his photos. They were among the 5,931 Marines killed on the island.
Lindberg’s patrol was back in combat, crawling through the black volcanic rock of the island, when a group of five Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman raised a second, larger flag about four hours later. By Lindberg’s account, his commander ordered the first flag replaced and safeguarded because he worried it would be taken by someone as a souvenir.
AP photographer Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the second flag-raising became one of the most enduring images of the war and the model for the U.S. Marine Corps memorial in Washington.
Rosenthal always denied accusations that he staged the photo, and he never claimed it depicted the first raising of a flag over the island.
Lindberg was shot through the arm March 1, 1945, and evacuated. He learned about the second flag-raising a week later while recovering from the wound, which earned him a Purple Heart.
After his discharge in January 1946, Lindberg — no relation to Charles Lindbergh the aviator — went home to Grand Forks, N.D. He moved to Richfield in 1951 and became an electrician.
No one, he said, believed him when he said he raised the first flag at Iwo Jima.
“I was called a liar,” he said.
Official recognition eluded him, too. In 1954, Lindberg was invited to Washington for the dedication of the Marine memorial; it carried the names of the second group of flag-raisers but not the first.
He spent his final years trying to raise awareness of the first flag-raising, speaking to veterans groups and at schools. He sold autographed copies of Lowery’s photos through catalogs.
Lindberg was part of a groundbreaking for the Honoring All Veterans memorial — which include a bronze bust of the war hero — in Richfield on Memorial Day and had recently been active in various war memorials around the state, said Travis Gorshe, who organized the Richfield event.
Gorshe, who said he worked with Lindberg on the memorial for the past two years, said Lindberg has been hospitalized since June 10.
A back room in his neat house was filled with souvenirs of the battle, including a huge mural based on one of Lowery’s photos. Prints of the photos were kept handy for visitors, and Lindberg’s Silver Star and Purple Heart were in little boxes on a side table.
The Minnesota Legislature passed a resolution in Lindberg’s honor in 1995. His face appears on a huge mural in Long Prairie of the battle for Iwo Jima, and his likeness is etched into the black granite walls of Soldiers Field in Rochester.
It is still hard to believe that these heros are in their 80′s and 90′s. Soon there will not be any left to tell their stories. Sad.
The battle for Iwo Jima was a very important step as the United States made its way towards defeating Japan in the Pacific. The volcanic island enabled the United States to land B-29’s on the air strip. This enabled the bombing campaign to begin in earnest of Mainland Japan. The battle raged for over 34 days and was called Operation Detachment. Almost 7,000 US Marines died and over 19,000 Japanese died during the battle. Something to think about, we are freaking out in the press over the amount of loss since we began the war in Iraq and yet here we took in 34 days more than…. Well….
Okay so my previous post was on Charles Lindberg not to confused with Lucky Lindy the dude who flew across the Atlantic solo. Why am I sharing this? Simple, I had the honor of meeting this fine gentleman while I was stationed on recruiting duty in Minnesota circa early 1990’s.
So here is the story, I suppose I should preface this with a “this is no shit” so other Marines who read your blog will know that this “ain’t no sea story”.
So there I was, minding my own business in the recruiting office trying to figure out just how I was going to make mission for the month. It was February, and there was snow up past my hips everywhere. (This should be a no brainer, huh? I was after all in Minnesota) I had set up in my office a couch and a 30 cup coffee maker, and there was an unwritten invite to all who walked in to enjoy a cup of joe, sit and BS or read the Marine Corps mags we had on the coffee table.
This was this gentleman who frequented the office every few days, he never really said much. Just would come in and get a cup of coffee and just sit on the couch and watch Me and my fellow Marines go about business. Then without so much as a “kiss my ass”, he would depart. We never thought much about it. We had all sorts of people stop by and grab a cup of coffee, ranging from Strippers from the local strip joint (it’s a jarhead thing, we attract them), to the Mother’s against Military Madness who would protest in front of the office every Thursday morning at 0900 sharp. We supplied the coffee and donuts for the ladies and allowed them to come in to warm up on really cold days. They were a happy lot and we enjoyed their banter, but then that is another story….
At any rate, dumb ass, that would be me, decided to ask who the old man was one day. He picked up a “Leatherneck” magazine that was laying on the table and tossed it to be and said,
You can read about me here, and then he stormed out of the office. The “Leatherneck” featured article was about the first flag raising on Iwo Jima. Now being a dummy, I was about to be schooled in typical USMC fashion. First, I like so many young and dumb American’s, I did not know that there were two flag raisings on Iwo. The second flag raising, which became the most reproduced photo in photographic history, was taken by Joe Rosenthal. Can you say awkward moment? So the four of us Marine Recruiters crowded around the magazine and began to become educated on something we should have known. Opps! Dumbass time four I suppose.
So now, deeply embarrassed we sat off on a new mission, To find Charles Lindberg, United States Marine, first flag raiser on Mount Sribachi, Iwo Jima. Once we found him, we brought him back to our office and offered a hero’s welcome. I am telling you, here were four young Marines who now knew what the meaning of self sacrifice really meant and were being given a live lesson by just the presence of this unknown, but real American Superman.
Mr Lindberg was gracious enough to continue to come to my office two or three times a week after that, with the understanding that we were not to say anything to anyone. “The brass will just muck this up if they knew I was here” he would often exclaim to me. No need in getting them involved. So the four of us continued to be educated by this “old salt” and taught the true meaning of being a Marine.
When I was getting ready to transfer back to the Fleet upon completing my tour of duty in Late 1995, Mr Lindberg came into the office and presented me with a signed lithograph of the first flag raising on Iwo. I have it hanging in the ”I love me room” in my house.
Fascinating. Thank You for sharing!