Raising Old Glory

Today is the 65th Anniversary of the brave and historic raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. Here's the famous photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal:

A diagram of the photo indicating the six men who raised the flag: Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley (†), Michael Strank (†), John Bradley, Rene Gagnon and Harlon Block (†).(†) = Killed on Iwo Jima

As you can see from the diagram above, 3 of these 6 men were killed before the battle ended.

Below is a an amazing film made in Technicolor and put together shortly after the war that documents the taking of the island. The film is 19 minutes long, but it's truly inspiring to see what kind of men gave their lives to preserve our liberties. We must be reminded of the high, even immeasurable, price that was paid for our freedom!! We must not be like Esau, who sold his heritage for a pot of soup. Our freedom is worth much more than a puff of hot air from an empty politician.

Semper Fidelis!