Tuesday, September 7, 2010

"Marine in iconic WWII photo lost to time?"

By Jim Carney

"One of the iconic images of World War II remains shrouded in mystery.

Two Marines sit amid rubble shortly after landing on Peleliu Island in the Pacific in a photograph taken Sept. 15, 1944.

The man on the right in the picture, cradling a machine gun and smoking a cigarette, was Pfc. Douglas Lightheart of Michigan.

The Marine on the left, holding a cigarette with an M-1 Garand rifle across his lap, has been identified as Pfc. Gerald Churchby.

The photographer who took the picture, believed to be H.H. Clements, identified Churchby as being from Akron.

Nearly 66 years after the photograph was taken, historians want to know what happened to Churchby."

submit to reddit Digg!

No comments: