Iwo Jima Veterans Blast Time's 'Special Environmental Issue' Cover

[ToughOmbre]

I'm not happy with TIME magazine.....

Time editor tells MSNBC 'there needs to be a real effort along the lines of World War II to combat global warming and climate change.'

For only the second time in 85 years, Time magazine abandoned the traditional red border it uses on its cover. The occasion – to push more global warming alarmism.

The cover of the April 21 issue of Time took the famous Iwo Jima photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the Marines raising the American flag and replaced the flag with a tree. The cover story by Bryan Walsh calls green “the new red, white and blue.”

Donald Mates, an Iwo Jima veteran, told the Business & Media Institute on April 17 that using that photograph for that cause was a “disgrace.”

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” Mates said. “Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”

Mates also said making the comparison of World War II to global warming was erroneous and disrespectful.

“The second world war we knew was there,” Mates said. “There’s a big discussion. Some say there is global warming, some say there isn’t. And to stick a tree in place of a flag on the Iwo Jima picture is just sacrilegious.”

According to the American Veterans Center (AVC), Mates served in the 3rd Marine Division and fought in the battle of Iwo Jima, landing on Feb. 24, 1945.

“A few days later, Mates’ eight-man patrol came under heavy assault from Japanese forces,” Tim Holbert, a spokesman for the AVC, said. “During fierce-hand-to-hand combat, Mates watched as his friend and fellow Marine, Jimmy Trimble, was killed in front of his eyes. Mates was severely wounded, and underwent repeated operations for shrapnel removal for over 30 years.”

Lt. John Keith Wells, the leader of the platoon that raised the flags on Mt. Suribachi and co-author of “Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die: Iwo Jima” wasn’t impressed with Time’s efforts.

“That global warming is the biggest joke I’ve ever known,” Wells told the Business & Media Institute. “We’ll stick a dadgum tree up somebody’s rear if they want that and think that’s going to cure something.”

Time managing editor Richard Stengel appeared on MSNBC April 17 and said the United States needed to make a major effort to fight climate change, and that the cover’s purpose was to liken global warming to World War II.

“One of the things we do in the story is we say there needs to be an effort along the lines of preparing for World War II to combat global warming and climate change,” Stengel said. “It seems to me that this is an issue that is very popular with the voters, makes a lot of sense to them and a candidate who can actually bundle it up in some grand way and say, ‘Look, we need a national and international Manhattan Project to solve this problem and my candidacy involves that.’ I don't understand why they don’t do that.”

Holbert, a speaking on behalf of the American Veterans Center, said the editorial decision by Time to use the photograph for the cover trivialized the cause the veterans fought for.

“Global warming may or may not be a significant threat to the United States,” Holbert said. “The Japanese Empire in February of 1945, however, certainly was, and this photo trivializes the most recognizable moment of one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history. War analogies should be used sparingly by political advocates of all bents.”

Stengel also appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on April 17 and had no difficulty admitting the magazine needed to have a “point of view.”

“I think since I’ve been back at the magazine, I have felt that one of the things that’s needed in journalism is that you have to have a point of view about things,” Stengel said. “You can’t always just say ‘on the one hand, on the other’ and you decide. People trust us to make decisions. We’re experts in what we do. So I thought, you know what, if we really feel strongly about something let's just say so.”

Time has been banging the global warming drum for some time now. In April 2007, Time offered 51 ways to “save the planet,” which included more taxes and regulation.

TO

[evangilder]

Unbelievable. I was not a reader of Time before, and I never will be now. That is a slap in the face to the USMC and all veterans. Shame on you, Time Magazine.

[syscom3]

No big deal.

[evangilder]

No big deal?!?!?! That cover is an insult to my uncle, who fought for that island and everyone else involved. That has long been a symbol of victory and freedom. To alter that with a tree is spitting in the face.

[FLYBOYJ]

I think we should shove that tree up Times' editor @ss!

[ToughOmbre]

Originally Posted by syscom3

No big deal.

Those are real men, not some abstract, generic image. Three men in that picture never came home; Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley, along with 6,825 other Marines.

It's a big deal!

And a disgraceful act on the part of TIME magazine to trivialize what that picture stands for.

TO

[wilbur1]

Originally Posted by FLYBOYJ

I think we should shove that tree up Times' editor @ss!

Im with you flyboy, lets see if he can s##t pencils when were done1

[ccheese]

I think it's terrible. My brother-in-law was on Iwo, and I'll bet he'd like to
shove that tree somewhere. It's a slap in the face of any man who fought
on Iwo Jima.

BTW, you know the Japanese have renamed the island ! It's been reverted
to it's pre-war name of Iwo To.

Charles

[syscom3]

Its still no big deal.

Ive seen far worse.

[ToughOmbre]

Originally Posted by syscom3

Its still no big deal.

Ive seen far worse.

But I wouldn't justify bad behavior (on TIME's part) by pointing to other bad behavior, whatever it may be, worse or not.

Bet it's a big deal to James Bradley.

TO