Charles W. Lindberg
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Charles W. Lindberg
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| Born | June 26, 1920 |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Marine Corps |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion 28th Marines |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Silver Star Medal Purple Heart Medal Combat Action Ribbon Presidential Unit Citation |
Charles W. "Chuck" Lindberg (June 26, 1920 – June 24, 2007) was an American and a United States Marine corporal during World War II who was part of the combat patrol that climbed Mount Suribachi and raised the first of two U.S. flags on the summit during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was one of the last surviving members of both of these flag-raising events.[1]
Contents
U.S. Marine Corps
World War II
Lindberg was a native of Grand Forks, North Dakota when he enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after the Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly after joining the Marine Corps, he volunteered for the Marine Raiders, a special Marine Corps unit. Lindberg first saw combat on Guadalcanal while serving as a member of the 2nd Raider Battalion ("Carlson's Raiders"), and participated in the "Long Patrol". He also saw combat with the 2nd Raiders on Bougainville. In February 1944, the Marine Raider and Paramarine units were disbanded and he returned to the States. He was reassigned to the newly activated 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, CA
Battle of Iwo Jima
Left to right: 1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier (crouched next to radioman), Pfc. Raymond Jacobs (radioman), Sgt. Henry Hansen (soft cap, holding flagstaff), Pvt. Phil Ward (holding lower flagstaff), Plt. Sgt. Ernest I. Thomas, Jr. (seated), Phm2c John Bradley, USN (holding flagstaff above Ward), Pfc. James Michels (in foreground with M1 carbine), and Cpl. Charles Lindberg (standing, extreme right).
Lindberg was assigned as a flamethrower operator in 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. On February 19, 1945, he landed with the fifth assault wave on the beach of Iwo Jima. On February 23, Lindberg was part of the 40-man combat patrol led by First Lieutenant Harold Schrier that climbed up and captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the American flag. On March 1, Lindberg was wounded in the arm by a Japanese sniper and was evacuated off the island. He received the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action on Iwo Jima from February 19 to March 1, 1945.
Raising the flag
The famous flag-raising photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal on 556' Mount Suribachi was actually the second flag-raising event on February 23, 1945. The first U.S. flag, attached to a narrow water pipe found on Mount Suribachi, was raised on the mountain top from 10:20 to 10:37 a.m.; the larger second flag on a shorter and heavier pipe was raised about 1 p.m. Lieutenant Schrier had volunteered to take a patrol up Mount Suribachi and raise an American flag at the summit to signal that the mountain was captured. After a fire-fight at the summit, a flag measuring 54-by-28 " (137-by-71 cm), was raised and photographed by Marine Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery, a combat photographer with Leatherneck magazine, who had accompanied the patrol.[2][3][4]
Schrier, a former Marine Raider like Lindberg, received the Navy Cross for volunteering to take the patrol up Mount Suribachi and raise the flag... Schrier's citation for the medal says, he and his Platoon Sergeant (Ernest Thomas) raised the flag.[5] This is supported by Sgt. Thomas' CBS interview on February 25, 1945 aboard the flagship USS Eldorado where he said that Lt. Schrier, Sgt. Henry Hansen, and he actually raised the flag.[6]
Thomas, Hansen, Lindberg, and Pfc. James Michels (held the pipe off the ground) helped Schrier attach the flag to the pipe before the flagstaff was carried to the highest position there to raise and plant it in the ground. Once the flag was raised, the Marines, sailors, and coast guardsmen on the beach below and the men on the ships near the beach reacted immediately by yelling out load when they saw the national colors flying in the wind. Hansen, Ward, and navy corpsman John Bradley, helped the flagstaff be more secure in the ground to keep it vertical in the high winds on the volcano. Others seen in Lowery's photographs of the first flag-raising near the flagstaff include Sgt. Howard Synder, Pfc. Raymond Jacobs (radioman) and Pfc. James Michels.[7]
The flag was considered to be too small to be seen easily from the nearby landing beaches. About two hours later, while Lindberg was reloading his flamethrower tanks below Mount Suribachi, a larger replacement flag attached to another and heavier pipe was raised on the mountain top simultaneous with the lowering of the first flag (Lindberg included in his many public talks about the first flag raising event on Mount Suribachi, that the battalion commander Lt. Colonel Johnson, had ordered the first flag replaced and safeguarded in order to make sure it was kept for his battalion after the battle). It was the black and white photograph of the second flag-raising photographed by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal which became famous and that the huge Marine Corps War Memorial (dedicated on November 10, 1954) in Arlington, Virginia is modeled after.
Post-war and later life
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Lindberg was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946. He returned home to Grand Forks, North Dakota, married, moved to Richfield, Minnesota, raised two daughters and three sons, and worked as an electrician for 39 years. He dedicated himself for years to the telling of the story of the first American flag raised and flown on Mount Suribachi, only to have his account called into question, until the facts of it became known to the general public. He often spoke at schools, sharing his memories of his wartime service with the children. In 1995, he returned to Iwo Jima for the 50th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima.
In a tribute to Lindberg, KARE TV ran the following report:
- At Fort Snelling, Friday, June 29th, 2007 the nation bid farewell to a true World War II hero. Marine Chuck Lindberg was laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
- The thundering jet fighters and some vintage WWII planes flew overhead to pay tribute. And it was well deserved.
- Lindberg was the last survivor of the first flag-raising on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. But his moment was overshadowed by a second flag-raising. He spent a lifetime correcting the record.
- Still, on this Friday at Fort Snelling, there was no doubt about history's record.
- During the ceremony one of Lindberg's daughters, Diane Steiger said, "The angels needn't worry tonight, another Marine has arrived. Our hero has gone home, the heavens are safer tonight."[8]
Military awards
Lindberg's military decorations and awards include:
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Silver Star Medal citation
Lindberg's Silver Star Medal citation reads:
- For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as Flame Thrower Operator of Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-Eight Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 February to 1 March 1945. Repeatedly exposing himself to hostile grenades and machine-gun fire in order that he might reach and neutralize enemy pill-boxes at the bast of Mount Suribachi, Corporal Lindberg courageously approached within ten or fifeteen yards of the emplacements before discharging his weapon, thereby asuring annihilation of the enemy the the successful completion of his platoon's mission. As a member of the first combat patrol to scale Mount Suribachi, he courageously carried his flame thrower to the steep slopes and assisted in destroying the occupants of the many caves found in the rim of the volcano, some of which contained as many as seventy Japanese. While engaged in an attack on hostile cave positions on March 1, he fearlessly exposed himself to accurate enenmy fire and was subsequently wounded and evacuated. By his determinations in manning his weapon, despite its weight and the extreme heat developed in operation, Corporal Lindberg greatly assisted in securing his company's position. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Portrayal in films
In the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, Lindberg was played by Alessandro Mastrobuono. Lindberg is the only character to appear in both Flags and its companion film, Letters from Iwo Jima, although in Letters he is uncredited and simply seen in the same shot of both films, rushing towards a bunker with a flamethrower.
See also
- List of U.S. Marines
- Last Iwo Jima Flag Raiser and IBEW Member Charles Lindberg Dies
- Marine Corps War Memorial
References
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Iwo Jima Flag Raiser Lindberg Dies at 86", June 25 2007
- ↑ Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Retired), 1994, from the National Park Service.
- ↑ Picture of the first flag raising
- ↑ Image of the first flag being lowered as the second flag is raised, Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 112718.
- ↑ [1] Richmond Daily News, "Camden-Fleming man an unsung hero at Iwo Jima", January 2, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ↑ [2] Rural Florida Living. CBS Radio interview by Dan Pryor with flag raiser Ernest "Boots" Thomas on February 25, 1945 aboard the USS Eldorado (AGC-11): "Three of us actually raised the flag"
- ↑ Bradley, James. Flags of Our Fathers, p. 205 (Charlo is misidentified for Jacobs).
- ↑ Farewell to a Hero
