The Tale of 2 Iwo Jimas

Hello Readers!!!

 
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a bloody week, American and Japanese forces clashed like no other and thousands of people ended up dead. Americans were coming for the Japanese and they needed to do what was called Island hopping. The battle was fierce, bloody and relentless with the Americans proving triumphant. One picture, one picture captures the resolve of the American Army as they put up the American flag.

After the soldiers came home, there were many other battles to fight, segregation as official policy was one, jobs, housing, soldiers who fought for democracy and freedom had to fight for it on our own shores once again. How could these soldiers fight for freedom and be denied it when they came home? That is one question that we are grappling with today as Republicans block Veterans Jobs & benefits bills.

One thing that came a little later in the blurb of the American consciousness is gay rights. In 1969, the one that blew the lid off of the gay rights struggle, a riot broke out because like Baltimore and Ferguson they were tired of unequal treatment by their government that they paid taxes to, fought for in the war and now were tossed away like yesterday’s newspaper. Nondiscrimination ordinances adoptions and repeals, little incremental steps toward greater equality then steps back in some other areas, and gay people have survived and thrived. Sad stories like that of Clay Greene and Shane bitney Crone, kids being taken away because one partner doesn’t have access to the legal rights that should be theirs, gays and lesbians having to wage costly and long court battles because a family member said correctly that they weren’t family because they’re not married. This is the many battles in the war that sets up the backdrop of this photo

 

About a decade ago, a photographer took this picture and recently because of the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling  it’s been making the rounds and generating a lot of controversy .

Defenders say that this photo beautifully captures the fight for gay rights; Edie Windsor and James Obergefell were faces to this fight. Many people died waiting for this day to come. Many peoples’ lives have been shattered by the inequality of the laws that were thought necessary but served to oppress. There were many gay soldiers who most likely died in that fight and they weren’t able to express who they were for fear of being judged unfit for duty. It’s a victory and it should be looked at as such. Soldiers don’t have an exclusive right to use that meme

"People saying 'these guys never lifted a finger' but if you remember don't ask don't tell, you'll remember that they did and continue to do so, you just don't want to acknowledge it.”

One opponent says “Wow, what a f-ing a-hole," wrote one enraged commenter. "Why don't you find your own icon to celebrate with? That one belongs to the MARINES of IWO JIMA. The ones who along with many others died so an a-crack smear like you could disrespect their memory. If you have an ounce of shame, you will take that down, apologize for being disrespectful, and create a new image that will be uniquely suited to your victory. Even then, I am pretty sure I will still have the urge to punch you in the face”

How dare anyone compare a legal victory to marry, based on sexual preference, to Iwo Jima. Beyond disrespectful.

This is by far the worst image I've seen since Friday. 6,000 marines died! You can't even compare.

The gay flag remake of the flag that flew at Iwo Jima is just insulting to America and those who have died for this country

My two cents: There were gay soldiers in that battle who had to fight another war when they came home, who couldn’t serve in the Armed Forces, who risked being harmed by their country while serving it. I feel that this rainbow flag raising in the Iwo Jima style of photography shows that after a long battle that took a lot more than 7 days and a lot more than 6,000 people who would’ve loved to have seen the date of June 26, 2015 when they could legally marry the person they loved, all while STILL fighting for the freedoms the Constitution says they have. The Armed Forces have fought to protect Americans…black, white, gay straight, man, woman, born in the US, those who are naturalized and aspiring Americans.

Yes, he has his 1^st Amendment right to use this image or parody it, just as it’s the 1^st Amendment right for someone to fly the Confederate Flag in their homes. The same says conservatives can call me a dirty faggot and it allows me to call them a homophobic blockheaded hypocrite.

I like the image, and I don’t find it disrespectful at all. All wars have casualties, and all wars have a victor. This image celebrates a hard won victory even if it’s controversial…TEN YEARS LATER

Thanks for reading and PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT 

I will post the video up under the same title as the blog post, my handle is Vidhead85