U.S. to Look for Remains Of Servicemen on Iwo Jima
A team of U.S. military researchers and archaeologists will begin survey work tomorrow on Iwo Jima, site of the storied World War II battle, marking the first time in nearly 50 years that the Pentagon has attempted to recover the remains of missing servicemen on the Japanese island.
The team's primary objective will be to locate the remains of Sgt. William H. Genaust, the Marine Corps cameraman who filmed the iconic flag-raising event in February 1945 atop Mount Suribachi, said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Defense Department's Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. Genaust's film was screened widely in U.S. theaters during the war and was later used to verify the authenticity of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize-winning image.
Genaust was killed in battle nine days after making the film. Pentagon researchers will be looking for his remains and those of about 250 other soldiers who were never found.
Seven officials from the Joint POW/MIA Account Command are to spend 10 days conducting preliminary survey work at several sites where U.S. servicemen are thought to be entombed in caves that were destroyed during the month-long battle. The expedition will also be the first collaboration between the United States and Japan on a recovery operation for missing military personnel.