Seventy years have passed since the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. A grainy photograph, hurriedly snapped by war news correspondent Joe Rosenthal, immortalized the moment making six young men forever the iconic ‘one shot for freedom.’
A 19-year-old Kentucky native is counted among those six men who climbed some 600 feet of rugged terrain to place the flag upon Mt. Suribachi, claiming the island of Iwo Jima for America.
Marine Pfc. Franklin Runyon Sousley managed to make it to the top of the inactive volcano along with fellow Marines Ira Hayes, Harlon Block, Michael Strank and Rene Gagnon. Navy corpsman John Bradley was also counted among those six brave young men, three of whom later lost their lives in the line of duty.
Sousley was mortally wounded by a sniper’s bullet just days after the raising of the flag, while still conducting warfare on Iwo Jima.
Kentucky author Donald R. Curtis spent years researching the early life of Sousley and putting together a wealth of information about the circumstances surrounding the Rosenthal photograph in his newest book “Uncommon Valor…Common Virtue.”
The author, who grew up just 30 miles from the gravesite of the young Marine, says he wanted to learn more about the American hero and set about doing so in preparation for the 70th anniversary year of his death.
The public is invited to meet Curtis during a book signing slated for noon to 2 p.m. on Nov. 7. The Harrogate Book Station, located at 310 Bristol Road, is hosting the event.
The author penned his first fact-based book entitled “and should we die…” about the Cane Creek Mormon Massacre, which occurred in 1884 in Hickman County, Tennessee.
Both books can be purchased on amazon.com.
For more information about the book signing, call 423-869-9777.
Reach Jan Runions at 423-254-5588 or on Twitter @scribeCP.
