Raymond Jacobs
Raymond E. Jacobs | |
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World War
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Awards | Combat Action Ribbon, Purple Heart |
Raymond E. Jacobs (January 24, 1926 – January 29, 2008) was an American and United States Marine Corps sergeant who served in combat during World War II. Jacobs was a member of the combat patrol that climbed up to the top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima and raised the first U.S. Flag on February 23, 1945.[1][2] Afterwards, he was a news reporter and served during the Korean War as an instructor at Camp Pendleton, California.
Early life
Jacobs was born on January 24, 1926, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1933. He was a football star at Polytechnic High School in the Los Angeles area.
U.S. Marine Corps, World War II
Jacobs enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 1943. In September, after he completed recruit training in
Battle of Iwo Jima
Jacobs took part in the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, amphibious assault landing on Green Beach at the southern part of Iwo Jima near Mount Suribachi on February 19, 1945. From 19 to 23 February, the 28th Marines fought to secure Mount Suribachi. On February 23 at 8 AM, First Lieutenant Harold Schrier,[3] the E Company executive officer, led a 40-man combat patrol from Third Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines up Mount Suribachi to siege and occupy the crest. Accompanying Schrier was Jacobs, a radioman from F Company who was reassigned to him for the patrol.[4] Schrier was to raise an American flag he was given to signal that the mountaintop was captured. Once on top of the volcano, a section of a Japanese water pipe was found that became the flagstaff for the flag. Schrier and two other Marines attached the flag to the pipe which was then carried to the highest spot on the crater.
At approximately 10:20-10:35 a.m.,
In the early afternoon, a larger replacement flag was brought up Mount Suribachi by the Easy Company runner (messenger) which was then attached unto another Japanese steel pipe. This flag was raised by six Marines while the first flag was lowered. A photograph of the second flag raising by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal appeared in the newspapers, became renowned world-wide, made the second flag-raisers and Rosenthal famous, and led to the creation of the huge Marine Corps War Memorial (sometimes referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial) in 1954, in Arlington, Virginia.
Post World War II
Jacobs was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946. He then went to work as a
World War II photo claim
Jacobs and his family spent his later years trying to prove that he actually was the Marine radio operator who was photographed on top of Mount Suribachi beneath the first
Jacobs claimed that on February 23, 1945, he was assigned as the radioman for Lt. Schrier and his 40-man patrol from E Company who went up Mount Suribachi after a 4-man reconnaissance patrol (included Charlo) from Third Platoon, F Company (Jacobs's company) which had been sent up the mountain an hour earlier, came down.[9] The other men involved in the patrol and first flag raising have all died. In 2008, just after Jacobs had died, Annette Amerman, a historian with the Marine Corps History Division, said "there are many that believe" Jacobs was the radioman. "However, there are no official Marine Corps records produced at the time that can prove or refute Mr. Jacobs' location."[2] There has not been a Marine photo of Marshall to compare to Lowery's photos. There are however, several photo comparisons of Jacobs that do verify he is the radioman with Lt. Schrier on Mount Suribachi, and Los Angeles newspaper accounts (Associated Press Dispatch, beginning February 24, 1945) which support Jacobs's testimonies that he was personally interviewed on top of Mt. Suribachi after the first flag-raising.[9] His claims are also supported by his letters home. In 2019, a Marine Corps investigation of the two flag raisings on Mount Suribachi confirmed that Jacobs was indeed Lt. Schrier's radio operator who was photographed several times on top of Mount Suribachi near the first flag after it was raised.[4]
Jacobs had disputed the official identifications in Lowery's picture and asserted that it should be: Pfc. James Robeson [Pfc.
Due to an agreement with the Associated Press and the Marine Corps over Rosenthal's photo of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi the afternoon of February 23, Lowery's photos taken on Mount Suribachi were not released until 1947, when 16 of his pictures appeared in Leatherneck Magazine.
Death
Jacobs died of natural causes at a hospital in Redding, California, on January 29, 2008, at the age of 82.[2]
Military awards
Jacobs's military awards:
Purple Heart
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Combat Action Ribbon | ||||||||
Presidential Unit Citation | Good Conduct Medal | American Campaign Medal | |||||||
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 1 bronze star
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World War II Victory Medal | National Defense Service Medal |
See also
References
- ^ Last Iwo Jima flag veteran dies, BBC, February 5, 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Last Marine in Iwo Jima Photo Dies at 82". AP. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008.
- ^ Camden-Fleming man an unsung hero at Iwo Jima Richmond News, January 2, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-16-095331-6.
- ^ Bradley, J. Powers, R. Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima.
- USS Eldorado: "Three of us actually raised the flag"
- ^ Raymond Jacobs - ex-KTVU news director, Iwo Jima vet, The San Francisco Chronicle, February 6, 2008.
- ^ Marine helped raise first Iwo Jima flag[dead link] Schultz, Jim. Redding.com. 1 February 2008.
- ^ a b c d America's Greatest Generation: Marine Heroes: Raymond Jacobs.
External links
- Ex-Marine Seeks Place in Iwo Jima History Los Angeles Times. 20 February 2005
- One of the photographs taken after the first flag was raised on Iwo Jima Veterans Memory Project. Library of Congress.