News

Actions

Iconic Iwo Jima photo investigation

Posted at 8:36 PM, May 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-04 00:15:04-04
A possible case of mistaken identity could change the history of a 71-year-old photograph from World War II.
 
It's about one of the most famous images in US history.
 
Many have come to know and recognize the photo of six American servicemen raising the flag on Iwo Jima during the battles in the Pacific Theatre during WWII.
 
It's also an image with Fox Valley connections, and now those connections are under a Marine investigation.
 
For decades, the Marines have said this photo includes five Marines, and one Navy corpsman. That corpsman is John Bradley, of Appleton. 
 
But new evidence suggests that might not be the case, and veterans are reacting.
 
For America, it was the promise of victory captured in an iconic image. 
 
"To us, they were the heroes to the newer generation," says Vietnam veteran Bob Boettcher, holding the photo in his hands.
 
It's an image that Boettcher and others at Appleton VFW Post 2778 know well.
 
"Any time you have a national figure, you know," says Boettcher, "you get pumped up about it." 
 
And for seven decades, the Marines have identified five of their own in the photo, along with the Appleton Bradley.
 
Tonight, Bradley's son, and author of  the novel "Flags of Our Fathers," James Bradley, is telling NBC news he believes his father was not in the photo.
 
"For 70 years, the government has been saying my father was there," says Bradley. "So it took me a while to realize that might not be so."
 
Bradley is citing recent discoveries made by amateur historians, like Dustin Spence.
 
"It can be little things. It can be just a wrinkle in a helmet," Spence tells NBC News. "It can be a ring on a finger."
 
Spence and others argue Bradley was actually at the first flag raising on Iwo Jima hours earlier, and that this figure in the second raising is not him.
 
It's an investigation that could change the record, but won't change the way Appleton feels about its heroes.
 
"Appleton's never going to stop celebrating their veterans," adds Boettcher, smiling. "Period."
 
As for why these historians believe they're right, they say it's all in the clothing.
 
They say other photos of Bradley that day show discrepancies in his uniform when compared to the iconic image.
 
The Marines have not given a timeline for the investigation into the image.