Raymond Jacobs

SSgt. Lowery's most widely circulated picture of the first American flag flown on Mount Suribachi.
This picture was usually captioned as: 1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier (crouched behind radioman), Henry "Hank" Hansen (soft cap securing flag pipe with left hand), Platoon Sergeant Ernest "Boots" Thomas (seated), Pfc. James Michels (holding carbine rifle), and Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg (standing, extreme right), on Mount Suribachi at the first flag raising.
However, this photograph was taken after Lt. Schrier assisted by his Platoon Sgt. Thomas (and Sgt. Hansen) raised the flag.[1] Pfc. Raymond Jacobs has been identified as the radioman in the photo, PhM2c John Bradley, USN (helmeted, standing with right hand securing the flag pipe), and Pvt. Phil Ward (helmeted, holding flag pipe with both hands, below Bradley), have since been identified. Schrier is crouched down and hidden behind Jacob's legs holding Jacob's radio receiver.

Raymond E. Jacobs (January 24, 1926 – January 29, 2008) was a United States Marine during World War II and later a news reporter. Jacobs was a member of the Marine Corps patrol that climbed up to the top of Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima and raised the first American flag on February 23, 1945.[2][3]

Early life

Raymond Jacobs was born in 1926 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was a football star at Polytech High School in the Los Angeles area.

U.S. Marine Corps, WWII

He enlisited in the Marine Corps in 1943 and trained during World War II as a Marine Raider. He was sent overseas as a Marine radio operator with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division in the Pacific Theatre.

Battle of Iwo Jima

Jacob participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and the first American flag raising event on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. He was a radioman for 1st Lieutenant Harold Schrier, the platoon commander that took a 40-man patrol up to the top of Mt. Suribachi, and who, assisted by his platoon sergeant, Ernest Thomas, raised the first American flag on Iwo Jima.[4]On February 25, Thomas was aboard the flagship USS Eldorado, and during a press interview said that Schrier, himself, and Sgt. Henry Hansen had actually raised the flag. On March 10, 1945, Jacobs was wounded by enemy mortar fire and was evacuated off Iwo Jima.

Post World War II

Jacobs was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946. He then went to work as a reporter, anchor, and news director for KTVU in Oakland, California for 34 years before retired in 1992.[5]In 1950, Jacobs was called up for Marine Corps service during the Korean War. He served as a Marine instructor in California until he was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant in 1951.

WWII photo claim

Jacobs spent his later years working hard to prove that he was the unknown Marine radio operator photographed by SSgt. Louis R. Lowery, (a combat photographer with Leatherneck magazine), standing beneath the first American flag raised on Mount Suribachi.[3][6] He even disputed the official identifications in the picture and asserted that it should be: Pfc. James Robeson (in Lowery's second photo, in lower left corner), 1st Lt. Harold Schrier (sitting behind Jacob's legs), Pfc. Raymond Jacobs (carrying radio), Sgt. Henry Hansen (cloth cap, holding flagpole), unknown Marine (lower right hand securing flagpole), Platoon Sgt. Ernest Thomas (seated), PhM2c John Bradley, USN (helmeted, above Thomas securing flagpole with both hands), Pfc. James Michels (holding carbine rifle), and Cpl. Charles Lindberg (standing above Michels).[6]

Although Jacobs's face is not visible in Lowery's most widely circulated photograph of the first flag flown on Mt. Suribachi, his claim that it is definitely him was based on several other photographs of him taken by Lowery near the first flag with Lt. Schrier, which he asserted proves it's him. The radioman in the most famous of Lowery's photographs was assumed for years to be an unknown Marine or Pfc. Gene Marshall, the radio operator with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines. Marshall died in 1987.

Jacobs (Company F, 2/28) claimed he was assigned to Company E, 2/28 and was sent up Mt. Suribachi alongside Lt. Schrier and his 40-man patrol after a 4-man reconnaissance patrol from Company F went up and down Mt. Suribachi first. The other men involved in the patrol and first raising have all died. Annette Amerman, a historian with the Marine Corps History Division, said "there are many that believe" Jacobs was the radioman. "However, there are no official Marine Corps records produced at the time that can prove or refute Mr. Jacobs' location."[3] While there hasn't been a Marine photo of Marshall to compare to Lowery's photos, Jacobs's testimonies saying he was personally interviewed at Mt. Suribachi after the first flag-raising is supported by several Los Angeles newspaper accounts (Associated Press Dispatch) beginning February 24, 1945, and by his letters home.

Death

Jacobs died of natural causes at a hospital in Redding, California, on January 29, 2008, at the age of 82.[3]He is buried in Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo, California.[7]

Military awards

Jacob's military decorations and awards include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ , Richmond News, Camden-Fleming man an unsung hero at Iwo Jima. January 2, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2014
  2. ↑ Last Iwo Jima flag veteran dies, BBC, February 5, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Last Marine in Iwo Jima Photo Dies at 82, AP, February 5, 2008.
  4. ↑ Richmond News, Camden-Fleming man an unsung hero at Iwo Jima, January 2, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ Raymond Jacobs - ex-KTVU news director, Iwo Jima vet, The San Francisco Chronicle, February 6, 2008.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 America's Greatest Generation: Marine Heroes: Raymond Jacobs.
  7. ↑ Find A Grave, Raymond Jacobs. Retrieved March 13, 2014

External links