I’ve seen this photo several times, but missed all of the warships in the background. The war chugs along.
TheToyDr
I wonder what his name was ? Where is he buried ? Who took the pic ?
Coreysurfer
Sad but heroic pic of those who won the war for us
Cdelli
Incredible to think about this man’s family, wife, and descendants that may not even know how he died. Very sad
Idenwen
Bullet right into the center of the head – wonder if he even knew he was hit before he was dead.
Hit in that place with a bullet that size I would say he just goes limp. No time to trow your weapon away dramatically.
I_amEvilHomer
Fixed bayonet, that means shit was going down right? I was under the impression that past WW1 you didn’t attach the bayonet until you had to.
waffle_ss
Not to be insensitive but is there a chance it’s staged? The grip on the weapon and head upright seems a bit convenient
Warchemix
The battle for Iwo Jima was literally Hell on Earth. No matter what your political leanings are, we should all respect the exceptional courage of the men who fought there on both sides, however misguided their respective agendas were. War is a racket, but these guys still soldiered up and fought for their nations. Rest easy you brave bastards.
IrishHetman
Unless he was killed within 5 seconds of this pic being taken, his hand wouldn’t still be wrapped around the rifle like that. Shot to the head, where that bullet hole is would cause a quick tensing of the muscles, then relaxing and slumping. My guess is he’s reenacting where a bullet richoceted off his helmet for the camera, thus causing the hole. I’ve seen a few people shot on the head/face and that’s an unnatural way to die….I could absolutely be wrong, but many, many WWII photos were staged. Take them all with a grain of salt.
Done-Goofed
The grip on the rifle from [Cadaveric spasm] “A rare form of muscular stiffening that occurs at the moment of death. The cause is unknown but is usually associated with violent deaths under extremely physical circumstances with intense emotion”
BrianPurkiss
I’ve seen this photo several times, but missed all of the warships in the background. The war chugs along.
TheToyDr
I wonder what his name was ? Where is he buried ? Who took the pic ?
Coreysurfer
Sad but heroic pic of those who won the war for us
Cdelli
Incredible to think about this man’s family, wife, and descendants that may not even know how he died. Very sad
Idenwen
Bullet right into the center of the head – wonder if he even knew he was hit before he was dead.
Hit in that place with a bullet that size I would say he just goes limp. No time to trow your weapon away dramatically.
I_amEvilHomer
Fixed bayonet, that means shit was going down right? I was under the impression that past WW1 you didn’t attach the bayonet until you had to.
waffle_ss
Not to be insensitive but is there a chance it’s staged? The grip on the weapon and head upright seems a bit convenient
Warchemix
The battle for Iwo Jima was literally Hell on Earth. No matter what your political leanings are, we should all respect the exceptional courage of the men who fought there on both sides, however misguided their respective agendas were. War is a racket, but these guys still soldiered up and fought for their nations. Rest easy you brave bastards.
IrishHetman
Unless he was killed within 5 seconds of this pic being taken, his hand wouldn’t still be wrapped around the rifle like that. Shot to the head, where that bullet hole is would cause a quick tensing of the muscles, then relaxing and slumping. My guess is he’s reenacting where a bullet richoceted off his helmet for the camera, thus causing the hole. I’ve seen a few people shot on the head/face and that’s an unnatural way to die….I could absolutely be wrong, but many, many WWII photos were staged. Take them all with a grain of salt.
Done-Goofed
The grip on the rifle from [Cadaveric spasm] “A rare form of muscular stiffening that occurs at the moment of death. The cause is unknown but is usually associated with violent deaths under extremely physical circumstances with intense emotion”