I've gotten a couple of emails on my post about Sgt. Jack Thurman and Iwo Jima. John Andrews writes in:
This is John Andrews at South Dakota Magazine. Thanks for the mention on South Dakota Politics. I thought I would pass this bit of info on to you. A couple of days ago I got a call from a gentleman who told me there is another South Dakotan in that picture. His name is Grady Dyce, originally from Chamberlain. I think he's the guy to the left of the flag with his left leg bent and his gun in the air (although I can't be sure -- I'd have to check in the book). I suggested the caller write a letter to the editor pointing that out, so hopefully he does. If so, we'll run it in the May/June issue.
A subsequent email from Mr. Andrews says the gentleman he speaks of wrote a letter to the editor that will be published in the May/June Mailbox. Also, Cliff Hadley writes:
My father, a Marine radioman in the 4th Division, is also in that photo. He's just over the shoulder of the last man at the right, two miles behind him on the far side of the island.
I went to Iwo Jima in 2005 for the 60th anniversary of the battle, and wrote of that trip in the Memorial Day weekend edition of the Mitchell Daily Republic. Another writer wrote about Mr. Thurman in the same issue.
Here is a copy (PDF alert) of Mr. Hadley's article from the Mitchell Daily Republic that he passed along to me.
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