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| Sousley remembered during ceremony |
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| Written by Danetta Barker | |
| Wednesday, 25 February 2009 | |
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By Danetta Barker Editor A new generation has become part of the services to honor Pfc. Franklin Sousley, who was one of the six flag raisers on Iwo Jima. A service held Sunday included a song by Mackenzie Purvis, the granddaughter of veteran Nelson Purvis. Not only did the young Purvis entertain the group with a song, she read from a paper she had written for the Miss Pre Teen America Pageant about Sousley. “The flag raising is the most reproduced photograph in America,” she said of the image captured by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal. His photo of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman was published in newspapers around the world. The photograph was taken after the World War II battle to secure the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. The Marines had been ordered to put a flag on the top of Mt. Siribachi. One flag had been erected, then taken down to keep as an historical artifact. The picture that made the Marines famous was the second picture taken that day. Rosenthal thought he had missed the event and asked the men to pose for a group picture, however, he had captured the effort of the men with the flag half raised. The other five men were Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon H. Block, Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, Pfc. Ira Hayes, and PhM. 2/c John H. Bradley, USN. Hayes, Gagnon and Bradley were the only men to leave the island. The other three were killed during battles that lasted for nearly a month after the Feb. 23, 1945 flag raising. Sousley was killed by a sniper March 21, 1945 when he wandered from the rest of his group. Marines were told to stay together, but Sousley had walked away. Family members have said they thought he might have been reading a letter from home or might have been thinking of his mother, who had been working too hard, according to the last letter he wrote home. The ceremony is conducted by the Dan Dailey Marine Corps League of Lexington. Don Dixon honored members of the league as well as Iwo Jima survivors, Tory Bowling, Paul Frederick, Joe Lane and “Doc” George Marsh, a Navy Corpsman with the Marines. As the survivors remembered the black sand from the island that would literally scratch the skins when touched, Pell Blakeman gave a bottled sample of the sand to Librarian Beverly Cooper for the Franklin Sousley memorial at Fleming County Public Library. The bottled is displayed in a case that lights up and has a picture of the flag raising in the background. Blakeman’s son, a Marine, had brought the sand back from Iwo Jima. Danny Belcher, executive director of Task Force Omega was one of the speakers for the event held at the Franklin Sousley Post of the VFW. Belcher spoke about the bricks for sale at the County Clerk’s Office that will help maintain the Veterans Memorial at the Rec Park. “Only 70 people love their veterans,” Belcher said. “That’s how many bricks have sold in honor or in memory of a veteran.” Bricks cost $30 and can be purchased at the clerk’s office. Each brick is engraved with the name of a veteran or military person. Belcher also he had just learned that his uncle was on one of the ships near Iwo Jima which had given Gagnon the second flag to take to the top of the mountain. Rep. Mike Denham and Sen. Walter Blevins were also at the ceremony and spoke of the dedication of American military forces. “It makes me more patriotic to come here,” Blevins said. Denham said Sousley had the courage to backup his convictions of dedication to family and country. “He gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Denham said. At Elizaville Cemetery where Sousley is buried, Marine Corps League Honor Guard gave a rifle salute and Chris Pau of Task Force Omega played the bagpipes. Billy McFarland, a member of the VFW played Taps. |
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