76 YEARS AGO: Iwo Jima

Today commemorates the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945. This photo became one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century.

Raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945

Most folks think this flag was raised by six marines; not true. It was raised by five marines and a Navy corpsman, John Bradley. His son, James Bradley, wrote a book, “Flags of Our Fathers,” that highlighted the lives of all six of these men (including one from my state, Texas; he’s in the front planting the pole in the ground). The book was also made into a motion picture.

This flag raising symbolized the taking of Mount Suribachi on the island, not the conquest of Iwo Jima. There was much fighting to follow. In fact, only three of these six men survived this battle. The next battle, Okinawa, was the last battle of all of WWII.

May God bless all these men and the sacrifices they made on our behalf. 76 years from now, may we STILL remember them and what they stood for.

The Snake and the Saw: Handling One’s Anger

Here’s a great little story that packs a powerful point. To some degree, all of us can identify a similar episode in our own lives, or in the life of a struggling loved one, young or old, that exposes the damage boiling anger can do over time.

There was a snake that crawled over a sharp saw and was cut. In anger the snaked wrapped the saw with its thick body and proceeded to squeeze the life out of the saw.

With each angry squeeze it felt more pain but continued because it wasn’t going to let the saw get away with the pain it caused it. The snake, refusing to let go of the saw, eventually died; not knowing the whole time, he needed only to let go of the initial pain and focus on its future and where it was going. Instead, the snake, unfortunately, lost its life and didn’t even see it coming.

Control anger and its effects, consider forgiving those that hurt you, and don’t give people or things the power to destroy your life and all that you value.