Iwo Jima Vets Are Pissed At Time Magazine

Yes I said "pissed." That is the only way to describe the visceral anger coming from WW2 veterans, particularly those who fought on Iwo Jima in the Pacific. Why are they torqued at the editors at Time magazine?

Because of cover art on a recent edition that used the Iwo Jima flagraising as inspiration for an issue focusing on "green" initiatives.

"The cover of the April 21 issue of Time took the famous Iwo Jima photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the Marines raising the American flag and replaced the flag with a tree. The cover story by Bryan Walsh calls green “the new red, white and blue.” Donald Mates, an Iwo Jima veteran, told the Business & Media Institute on April 17 that using that photograph for that cause was a “disgrace.”

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” Mates said. “Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.” Mates also said making the comparison of World War II to global warming was erroneous and disrespectful.

“The second world war we knew was there,” Mates said. “There’s a big discussion. Some say there is global warming, some say there isn’t. And to stick a tree in place of a flag on the Iwo Jima picture is just sacrilegious.”

While creative, its just not cool. Most of the green initiatives, well meaning as they are, are being pushed by people who openly loathe the military. So to use one of the most famous military photos in all history . . . well, that's got more than a few Marines -- and other supporters of the U.S. military -- seeing green.