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WWII vet who provided flag on Iwo Jima has died
Associated Press – 1 hr 22 mins ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alan Wood, a World War II veteran credited with providing the flag in the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima, has died. He was 90.
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Wood was a 22-year-old Navy officer in charge of communications on a landing ship on Iwo Jima's shores Feb. 23, 1945 when a Marine asked him for the biggest flag that he could find.
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Wood happened to have a 37-square-foot flag he had found months before in a Pearl Harbor Navy depot.
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In a 1945 letter to a Marine general who asked for details about the flag, Wood wrote: "The fact that there were men among us who were able to face a situation like Iwo where human life is so cheap, is something to make humble those of us who were so very fortunate not to be called upon to endure such hell."
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http://news.yahoo.com/wwii-vet-provided-flag-iwo-jima-died-033413807.html
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alan Wood, a World War II veteran credited with providing the flag in the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima, has died. He was 90.
...
Wood was a 22-year-old Navy officer in charge of communications on a landing ship on Iwo Jima's shores Feb. 23, 1945 when a Marine asked him for the biggest flag that he could find.
...
Wood happened to have a 37-square-foot flag he had found months before in a Pearl Harbor Navy depot.
...
In a 1945 letter to a Marine general who asked for details about the flag, Wood wrote: "The fact that there were men among us who were able to face a situation like Iwo where human life is so cheap, is something to make humble those of us who were so very fortunate not to be called upon to endure such hell."
...
http://news.yahoo.com/wwii-vet-provided-flag-iwo-jima-died-033413807.html
Alan Wood dies at 90; provided Iwo Jima flag in World War II
By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times
April 25, 2013, 8:01 p.m.
Alan Wood never claimed to be a hero, but he did play a supporting role in one of World War II's most stirring moments.
It was at Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. Straining into the wind, five Marines and a Navy corpsman planted the Stars and Stripes on the rocky peak of Mt. Suribachi. As the flag unfurled, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured what may have been the war's most iconic image, a shot that inspired monuments and made the Iwo Jima flag-raisers instantly famous.
Wood, a 22-year-old Navy officer, wasn't among them. But it was Wood who provided the flag — a small act that would always remind him of the epic sacrifices made by so many on that desolate island 750 miles south of Tokyo.
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Over the years, others have claimed that they provided the flag, but retired Marine Col. Dave Severance, who commanded the company that took Mt. Suribachi, said this week in an interview that it was Wood.
"I have a file of more than 60 people who claim to have had something to do with the flags," he said from his home in La Jolla.
...
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-alan-wood-20130426,0,6445543.story
By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times
April 25, 2013, 8:01 p.m.
Alan Wood never claimed to be a hero, but he did play a supporting role in one of World War II's most stirring moments.
It was at Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. Straining into the wind, five Marines and a Navy corpsman planted the Stars and Stripes on the rocky peak of Mt. Suribachi. As the flag unfurled, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured what may have been the war's most iconic image, a shot that inspired monuments and made the Iwo Jima flag-raisers instantly famous.
Wood, a 22-year-old Navy officer, wasn't among them. But it was Wood who provided the flag — a small act that would always remind him of the epic sacrifices made by so many on that desolate island 750 miles south of Tokyo.
...
Over the years, others have claimed that they provided the flag, but retired Marine Col. Dave Severance, who commanded the company that took Mt. Suribachi, said this week in an interview that it was Wood.
"I have a file of more than 60 people who claim to have had something to do with the flags," he said from his home in La Jolla.
...
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-alan-wood-20130426,0,6445543.story
R.I.P.
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