War in Pictures (5) - Almost Over

Continuing my series of War in Pictures, these two flag raising pictures have played a significant role in the Second World War.

American marines hoist the US flag over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on 23 February 1945, in this Joseph Rosenthal photograph. It was the second flag raised there, replacing the first smaller flag which had been mounted on a smaller flag pole. More US Marine Medals of Honor were won on Iwo Jima than any other battle in American history. Nearly 7,000 American soldiers were killed, along with 22,000 Japanese.

I'd covered this in greater detail in an earlier post "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" HERE, along with pictures of some of my 1/6 World War II US Marines, including the 1/6 trio of Nicholas Cage (Sergeant Joe Enders), Adam Beach (Private Ben Yahzee) and Christian Slater (Sergeant Ox Anderson) from the film "Windtalkers (2002)". Adam Beach also starred in the Clint Eastwood film "Flags of our Fathers" as Pfc Ira Hayes. The 2006 film depicted how the three surviving flag-raisers at the Battle of Iwo Jima were used as propaganda tools by the United States government to lift the morale of the American people, and raise money for the war effort.

A sergeant of the reconnaissance troop of the 1st Battalion, 756th Rifle Regiment of the red Army hoists the victory banner over the Reichstag in Berlin at 2.25 pm on 30 April 1945. Although German troops still occupied the building, the whole structure was in Soviet hands by 11 pm. The war was not quite over, but the massive Soviet offensive launched on 16 April had secured the German capital.