SHIP'S LIBRARY

"Heroes of Iwo Jima" Documentary to Air on Sunday, 17 June 2001

A compelling new video documentary on the story of the two U.S. flag-raisings on Mount Suribachi during the battle for Iwo Jima in 1945 will debut on the Arts and Entertainment (A&E) television network on Father's Day, 17 June, at 9 p.m. EDT and PDT (8 p.m. CDT).

Academy Award-winning Executive Producer Arnold Shapiro has crafted an emotional and remarkable tribute to the veterans of the brutal 36-day campaign to capture Japan's island fortress. "My interest in Iwo Jima goes back to when I was a teenager," Shapiro told Sea Power, "and I first saw the picture taken by Joe Rosenthal."

The black-and-white image of that second flag-raising on Iwo Jima by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer is now the most widely published photograph in history. In his best-selling book, Flags of Our Fathers, author James Bradley vividly tells the stories of the men (his father included) associated with the flag-raising.

Bradley's book renewed interest in the two flag-raisings--and highlighted the confusion that continues to surround the events of that day in February 1945. (The explanation for the second flag-raising is straightforward: Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Chandler W. Johnson ordered a second, larger, flag to be raised so that it would be more visible to all Marines on Iwo Jima--and to preserve the first flag for the Marine Corps.)

Shapiro's new documentary--building on his masterful 1985 production "Return to Iwo Jima" --is a gripping video counterpart to Bradley's book. In addition to telling the story of the battle for Iwo Jima, Shapiro profiles all of the men participating in the first and second flag-raisings, as well as the Marine photographers and others who were involved.

"I wanted to tell the definitive story of the first and the second flag-raisings, and bring it right up to the present," Shapiro said. "Heroes of Iwo Jima" does just that.

Teaming with Shapiro, Lauren Lexton (writer, producer, director) and Nancy Gunn (coproducer) went to extraordinary lengths to interview surviving veterans, to obtain previously unaired combat footage, and to locate and interview living relatives for all those involved in the flag-raisings. Marine veteran and feature-film star Gene Hackman hosts the production.

Witnessing the events of 23 February 1945 from the base of Suribachi, Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal remarked, "The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years." Perhaps--but only if the legacy and historic wartime achievements of the Corps are nurtured and retold to future generations of Americans. Shapiro has made an admirable contribution to that worthy goal. GIP

Editor's Note: A word of caution is advised. A&E's two-hour primetime Iwo Jima special contains graphic color-film footage shot by Marine Corps combat cameramen during the battle. Because of their brutal realism, many scenes have never before been aired on network television. A&E will broadcast an encore presentation of "Heroes of Iwo Jima" on Friday, 22 June, at 9 p.m.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation, by Jerry Miller. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. 296 pp. $32.95.

Reviewed by Gordon I. Peterson, Senior Editor

At a time when the efficacy, utility, and survivability of the U.S. Navy's big-deck aircraft carrier and its multimission air wing are being challenged anew by armchair strategists and "Inside-the-Beltway" analysts, retired Vice Adm. Gerald E. "Jerry" Miller has contributed an important perspective on how the Navy's post-WWII efforts to develop an aircraft and aircraft carrier capable of delivering a nuclear bomb paved the way for the design of the most effective and versatile platform for seaborne aviation in the world today--the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Miller documents each step along the way in an informative, easy-to-read style eminently suitable for what might otherwise be an arcane treatise on engineering and aeronautical design. He turns back the pages of history more than 50 years to the day that then-Cdr. Frederick Lincoln "Dick" Ashworth reported to Los Alamos, N.M., in 1944 to serve on the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first nuclear bomb. The need to document the story of the Navy's struggle to validate its postwar nuclear mission began with Miller's dialogue with Ashworth--himself a veteran combat aviator in the Pacific War.

The personalities, aircraft, ships, tactics, and targeting policies associated with the Navy's Cold War mission are all well-represented, including the famous "Revolt of the Admirals" that saw respected naval leaders like Adm. Arthur W. Radford, then-Capt. Arleigh A. Burke, and others risk their careers to argue for a new role for the Navy in transporting, targeting, and delivering nuclear weapons.

Miller writes with a familiarity and authority forged by many years of command at sea during a distinguished 38-year career that included surface combat in a cruiser during World War II, command of a fighter squadron during the Korean War, and command of a carrier division during the Vietnam War. His experiences as the commander of both the U.S. Second and Sixth Fleets during the 1970s--and, later, as deputy director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff--provide the reader with fresh insights into the almost always highly classified story of how U.S. nuclear weapons were targeted during the height of the Cold War.

In 1991, President George Bush announced that all nuclear weapons would be removed from Navy ships and submarines. Naval aviation's more than four-decade association with nuclear weapons came to an end. But, as Miller writes, "The prenuclear carriers had a questionable future. The postnuclear carriers appear to have no limit."

Personal Note: As an aviator who had the privilege to serve as officer in charge of Miller's helicopter detachment during his tour as commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, this reviewer found it exhilarating to relive some vintage examples of Jerry Miller's dynamic leadership, energy, and vision on the pages of his first book on naval aviation. A second is said to be in the works. The legions of Jerry Miller fans around the world can only hope that more will follow.