World War II - Iwo Jima
As U.S. forces continued advancing toward Japan, Japanese resistance became more ferocious and fanatical, fighting to the death rather than surrendering. The next island targeted by Admiral Nimitz' forces was Iwo Jima, twice as close to Japan as Guam. The battle raged from Feb. 19 to Mar. 26, 1945.
Above, Marine Sgt. George Wetzl of Little Falls, Minnesota gets clean during a lull in the fighting.
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LIFE war photographer George Silk accompanied and photographed the U.S. troops on Iwo Jima. Here's a shot of some bins being used as bathtubs by the troops, part of a photo set called "Fighter Pilot." These photos were not published in the magazine.
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In the same quonset hut, Silk photographed the pilots getting massages.
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Now, turn over. Ahhh, that feels good!
From a Marine's personal photo album, we see a fellow Marine showering with "hot sulphur water."
We end with a short video clip from the National Archives showing Marines bathing in hot springs on Iwo Jima. I'm guessing these hot springs were the source of the "hot sulphur water" for the shower in the previous photo.
Casualties on Iwo Jima were horrendous. Nearly 7,000 Americans died and 20,000 were wounded. Of the Japanese, only 216 were taken prisoner. All the rest, an estimated 18,000 men, died in combat or committed suicide.
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If you're an unashamed male and you have photos of yourself or your male buddies naked in the military that you would allow me to use in my blog, please email them to unashamedmale@gmail.com. I'll keep you anonymous if you want. Don't send photos that you found on the Internet. It's you I'm interested in! Thanks. -Larry
5 comments:
Very interesting
I had pictures of my dad and some of his mates skinny dipping in a hot spring in Iceland during the war. The men of that generation were not hung up about being naked around one another.
It's something to do with being in the military that makes casual nudity quite easy among troops. In many instances, there simply is no space for privacy. Especially in a war zone. I'd be willing to bet that even nowadays guys who have been in the armed forces are much more accepting of nudity.
These men sacrificed so much.
Interesting perspective on the daily activities that were happening even as the horrific war on Iwo Jima raged. Thanks.
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