THIS MARINE WAS NOT CAMERA SHY William Homer Bill Genaust, born in 1907 was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who served as a war photographer in the battle of Saipan, and Iwo Jima, where he was killed in action during World War II on March 4, 1945. He is most known for photographing the second American Flag Raising on top of Mount Suribachi (Iwo Jima) in color, using a 16 millimeter motion picture camera on February 23, 1945. Sgt. Genaust and Pfc. Bob Campbell, a Marine still photographer, both assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, and AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, were on the top of Mount Suribachi after a small American flag attached to a pipe was planted securely on the mountaintop about 10:30 a.m. Around noon, the smaller American flag was replaced by a larger American flag on a heavier and longer pipe that was visible from any point on the island. Genaust stood near Rosenthal with his motion picture camera as the larger flag and pipe was hoisted by five Marines from E Company, 2nd platoon and a corpsman from 3rd platoon, simultaneous with the lowering of the smaller flag and flag pipe. William Genaust was known to have a steady hand during battle and often had to lay down his camera for a rifle. He single handedly killed 9 Japanese snipers before taking a bullet. He should have received but was denied the Navy Cross because he was considered just a cameraman vs the accomplished infantryman that we was... He was later killed by enemy small arms fire after he entered a darkened cave on Hill 362A located on the northwest corner of Iwo Jima. He had volunteered to use his flashlight or camera light in the cave and was killed supposedly with another unknown Marine. The cave mouth was covered over by bulldozing equipment, and despite renewed search efforts in 2007, his body has never been recovered. His awards are: Bronze Star Medal with Combat V Purple Heart Medal with one 5⁄16 gold star Combat Action Ribbon[5] Presidential Unit Citation American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two 3⁄16 bronze stars World War II Victory Medal The Sergeant William Genaust Award is presented each year by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, one of a series of awards to both Marines and civilian community members recognizing their work in advancing and preserving Marine Corps history. Comes A Soldiers Whisper, honoring our history and veterans one day at a time... https://facebook/ComesASoldiersWhisper ComesASoldiersWhisper
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 14:15:16 +0000
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