One Photo, Many Heroes

In your article “I’m Alive and Well, Thank You” (May 2007), Bert Rutan identifies himself as the wounded marine in the famous Iwo Jima photograph taken by war correspondent Eugene Jones.

We do not want to discredit Mr. Rutan or the service he did on Iwo Jima. But for more than fifty years my family has believed the bandaged marine in the photo to be our father, Pvt. George Joseph Smyth. George served with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division, which landed on Iwo Jima February 20, 1945. George received a serious head injury while attacking with his bazooka across Motoyama Airfield No. 2. It is believed George was wounded February 24 and was placed with the dead for over twenty-four hours before a medical corpsman found him, got him out of shock, and walked him to safety. This is when we believe the photo was taken. George’s casualty report was dated February 26, the day he was found and received his Purple Heart aboard a hospital ship.

In 1952, a coworker of George’s recognized him in the photograph, which had been reprinted on posters promoting Red Cross blood drives. The Red Cross checked war records and arranged for George to meet Eugene Jones. The two men had lunch at the 21 Club in New York City and exchanged details of the day on the beach. Mr. Jones said he felt that George was indeed the marine he had photographed.

Our father subsequently appeared on other Red Cross publicity posters, television ads, and The Ed Sullivan Show to talk about the photo and the importance of blood donations for U.S. soldiers then fighting in Korea. Our family has a scrapbook filled with stories and photos about his efforts to help the Red Cross campaign.

In 1995 another marine, Bernard Gin­gras, also claimed to be the unknown wounded man. At this time my brother Michael Smyth contacted Eugene Jones at his home in California about his meeting with our dad. Mr. Jones said without a doubt he still believed the marine in the photo was George. When asked about the date on the photo—February 21—he told Michael that he always marked his film with the date on which he started a roll; it would make sense that he could have taken the picture of George several days later.

We fully understand that it is nearly impossible to prove that either of these men was the pictured marine, especially because so many of the documents were handwritten, misdated, or lost. But it is important that we as a family let the public know that our father too believed he was the man in this famous picture.

Our dad is no longer here to speak for himself, but I know he would say that whoever the marine in the photo is, each of these men is a hero and deserves to be recognized for his dedication to his country. We are proud of our father and, whether famous or not, he will always be a hero to his entire family.

Eileen Judd
Broomfield, Colo.

Bert Rutan replies:

I appreciated the gracious and thorough letter in which Eileen Judd presented the family conviction that her father was the wounded marine in the well-known picture from Iwo Jima. I had never been aware of that. Despite my family’s strong insistence, for sixty years I would only say I thought it might be my picture. When the Seattle Times did a major article on the fiftieth anniversary of the landing and asked to include that picture I agreed only if any caption indicated it might be of me, not that it was me.

During the filming of Flags of Our Fathers, a friend discovered in the epilogue section of the movie’s website a page with the picture and, unexpectedly, the words “Arthur Reynolds Helping Bert Rutan” alongside. Assuming those names had not been picked out of a hat but obtained from a reliable record or source, I felt I could finally make claim to it. (I have discovered since that there was an Arthur Reynolds in my company.)

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