U.S. combs Iwo Jima for sergeant's remains
In 1945, William Genaust filmed the iconic flag-raising. Nine days later he was killed, his body never found
ERIC TALMADGE
Associated Press
TOKYO -- AU.S. search team on Iwo Jima is slashing its way through thick, thorny brush to find a cave where the Marine combat photographer who filmed the iconic Second World War flag-raising is believed to have been killed by gunfire.
It's the first U.S. search of the remote Japanese island in 60 years. The team is seeking the remains of Sergeant William Genaust and other marines who died in the battle for Iwo Jima, a turning point in the war with Japan.
"Our motto is 'until they are home,' " Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Brown of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command said yesterday. " 'No man left behind' is a promise made to every individual who raises his hand."
Sgt. Genaust, a combat photographer with the 28th Marines, filmed the raising of the flag atop Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945. He stood just feet away from AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, whose photograph of the moment won a Pulitzer Prize and came to symbolize the war in the Pacific and the struggle to capture Iwo Jima.
Sgt. Genaust died nine days later as he was helping fellow marines secure a cave, said Johnnie Webb, a civilian official with JPAC. He was 38.
A lead from a civilian led to the search for Sgt. Genaust's remains. The JPAC team is also looking for "as many other American servicemen as they can find," Col. Brown said by telephone from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
Approximately 250 U.S. troops are still missing from the Iwo Jima campaign, Col. Brown said. Many died in caves or were buried by explosions, and Col. Brown said the military is optimistic about finding Sgt. Genaust and the others.
The last JPAC team to search Iwo Jima recovered the remains of most of the American dead in 1948.
The marines officially took Iwo Jima on March 26, 1945, after a 31-day battle that pitted about 100,000 U.S. troops against 21,200 Japanese. An estimated 6,821 Americans were killed; only 1,033 Japanese survived.
"We are looking at several caves," Col. Brown said. "We have maps dating back to [the war] and even GPS locations. So far, everything seems to be where it should be."
Bob Bolus, the Scranton, Pa., businessman who provided the lead in the search, said he became intrigued by Sgt. Genaust after reading a Parade magazine story about him. Spending thousands of dollars of his own money, Mr. Bolus put together a team of experts, including an archivist, forensic anthropologist, geologist and surveyor, that was able to pinpoint where Sgt. Genaust's remains were likely to be found.
Mr. Bolus, 64, began lobbying the military to search for the missing marine.
"How do we leave an American?" he said by telephone. "How do we ignore him and leave him in a cave along with other military personnel who are MIA on the island also? He gave us a patriotic symbol that we see to this day."
Mr. Bolus, who said he visited Iwo Jima last year and met the grandson of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the Japanese commander on Iwo Jima, said he's confident Sgt. Genaust will be found.
Accounts vary, but Sgt. Genaust was believed to have been killed in or near a cave on "Hill 362A."
On March 4, 1945, marines were securing the cave, and are believed to have asked Sgt. Genaust to use his movie camera to light their way. He volunteered to shine the light in the cave and was killed by enemy fire. The cave was secured after a gunfight, and its entrance sealed.
Col. Brown, who has been receiving daily progress reports since the team arrived on Iwo Jima on June 17, said the search has been difficult because the area is overgrown with thorny brush.
"The team is cutting its way through," he said. Heavy equipment may be sent it if the search looks promising.
Though often overlooked, Sgt. Genaust played a key role on the day the flag was raised. His footage helped prove that the flag raising, the second one that day, was not staged, as some later claimed. He got no credit for his footage, however, in accordance with Marine Corps policy.
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The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ONĘ Canada