Jump to content

Found the Holy Grail of USMC Collecting


cplnorton
 Share

Recommended Posts

I bought a huge collection of stuff from a Marine who was on Iwo Jima. I got a Japanese flag, his knives, his utilites, a Japanese knee mortar round he took off the island, but the real score I believe is the photo album. In there are 100's of unpublished photos of Iwo itself. Just too many too post online. The man's name was Gordon L Cornell and he was an amateur photograhper before the war. So when he signed up in the Marines, he took his camera as well.

 

In there is the absolute Holy Grail of USMC collecting in my opinion. An origianal photo of the flag on Suribachi. In the photo you see a tripod and what I thought was a camera or movie camera on top. So I was excited that I possibly found a photo of the rising itself. But after talking with the USMC museum director in Quantico they believe it is actually later and a tripod with binoculars with a forward observer calling in Naval artillery on Japanese Positions. I was a little bummed it wasn't of the flag rising itself but still I can't imagine there are too many original pictures of the flag on Suribachi out there.

 

Here is the flag on Iwo.

 

 

Here is a picture of Gordon with his Camera on Iwo. I thought this was a picture of the Corpsman, but when I asked the family they said no it's Gordon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is literlly 100's of photos and I can't put them all up here, but he must have been fascinated with Japanese Dead as he took a lot of pictures of the dead Japs themselves. I didn't know if I could post them on this forum or not, or if you guys would want to see them. I know some forums will not permit that stuff.

 

Photos will be right back up with copyright info on them as per a moderators recommendation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please no one copy these photos without talking to me first. I want to be able to show these and share them, as I think it honor's Gordon's memory. But I just don't want people making copies of these and selling them on Ebay. That crap makes me sick.

 

But these are so special they should be shown. I'm also cordinating with the Marine Corps museum as they want to use some of these in their displays in the Museum itself.

 

I just think they should be shared, and I hope people aren't corrupt enough to try to profit form them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

manayunkman

Great pictures. They look like they were taken yesterday.

 

They have such quality and detail.

 

I had pictures before of that beached ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing, these are really fascinating. If I see an unauthorized copy out there you can bet I'll let you know. I'm sure others would too. Keep sharing!

 

Please no one copy these photos without talking to me first. I want to be able to show these and share them, as I think it honor's Gordon's memory. But I just don't want people making copies of these and selling them on Ebay. That crap makes me sick.

 

But these are so special they should be shown. I'm also cordinating with the Marine Corps museum as they want to use some of these in their displays in the Museum itself.

 

I just think they should be shared, and I hope people aren't corrupt enough to try to profit form them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A moderator recommended I put copyright info on the pictures, so they will be right back up once I add that info in.

 

I just want to protect them and keep SOB's that are trying to make money off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, thank you for sharing these with us. Amazing. Truly.

Would also encourage you to post some of his effect's such as the uniforms etc you mention. What a great and rare glimpse into his view of the war. You are truly fortunate. If he is still alive, I encourage you to record his thoughts and memories from this time with the aid of the photos. It will add more depth and richness to the already fantastic display.

I agree that it's a shame that some people will try to profit from your generosity. I'd suggest putting your watermark on the photo itself instead of the lower portion to avoid this. If done properly, it shouldn't detract from the photo.

Semper Fi

Link to comment
Share on other sites

suwanneetrader

Are you going to put the pics back up, as my Dad was 21st Marines I CO on Iwo I would love to see them. Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't why it wouldn't let me go back and edit, but there they are again and watermarked. Every picture in his scrapbook is labeled, what it was, and who was in it.

 

The Flag on Iwo.

 

iwojima001.jpg

 

D-Day on Iwo.

 

iwoscan001.jpg

 

Dead Japanese as their Higgens boat landed. He also labels the picture "Good Japanese"

 

iwoscan002.jpg

 

iwoscan004.jpg

 

iwoscan005.jpg

 

iwoscan006.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are probably at least a 100 if not a couple hundred more. I have some more of the dead bodies but some are pretty graffic so out of taste maybe I better not post them. But if you guys want to see them and I'm not breaking forum rules I will post them.

 

But when I get more time I will get more scans and post them. This was just the first couple pages of the scrapbook. There is more amazing stuff that should be seen, I just need time to scan them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just scanned some more but I have to stop as I have to get to work, but here are a few more.

 

 

D-Day on Iwo

scanstoday001.jpg

 

Hospital ship Salas, or Solus, or something like that, I can't read his writing.

scanstoday002.jpg

 

scanstoday003.jpg

 

scanstoday004.jpg

 

He labels this a swimming pool on one of the ships he was traveling on to Iwo.

scanstoday005.jpg

 

scanstoday006.jpg

 

scanstoday007.jpg

 

Japanese Plane wreckage on the air field.

 

scanstoday008.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hopsital ship

scanstoday009.jpg

 

scanstoday010.jpg

 

scanstoday011.jpg

 

scanstoday012.jpg

 

Water cans on Iwo. If you look real close on the top of Suribachi, you can see the flag. :)

 

scanstoday013.jpg

 

scanstoday014.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

scanstoday025.jpg

 

scanstoday026.jpg

 

The top of "Hot Rocks" looking down. Gordon labels Suribachi Hot Rocks, as I believe that was the name they used back then.

 

scanstoday029.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...