IMMORTAL IMAGES: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE FLAG RAISING ON IWO JIMA, by Tedd Thomey (Naval Institute Press, 248 pages, $24.95).
Author Tedd Thomey, a member of the 28th Marine regiment that fought on Iwo Jima and raised the flags on Mt. Suribachi on February 23, 1945, provides a personal story of the two photographers–Joe Rosenthal and Sgt. Bill Genaust–who captured that momentous occasion on film. Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer, became famous around the world for his photograph of the flag raising, but was later accused of staging the event. A Marine cinematographer who was killed in battle just nine days after the American flag was planted atop Mt. Suribachi, Genaust did not receive credit from the Marine Corps until 1995 for the motion picture he filmed on that memorable day. Complementing Thomey’s account are other photographs taken by the two men, and some that Thomey himself took during a recent visit to Iwo Jima.