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By Jim Barber Publisher
February 1995
Naval History
Volume 9 Number 1
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The image is indelible—U.S. servicemen raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi. In this issue, Joe Rosenthal recalls how he happened to snap the photo that won him a Pulitzer Prize.

Retired Marine Corps Colonel Joe Alexander calls this crucial battle “the amphibious pinnacle” of World War II. In the February 1995 U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, he follows the sea services onto the Iwo beaches. Here, as the centerpiece of Naval History's 50th-anniversary coverage, Alexander takes a rare critical look at the Japanese defenders. Our special section concludes with a tribute to Jack Lummus—Medal of Honor recipient for heroism at Iwo—written by the woman he was to have married.

Also highlighted in this issue: Rear Admiral “Jig Dog” Ramage details how he and a few other officers urged that Navy carrier aircraft launch with atomic bombs. And a serving Marine speech writer recounts the story of U.S. Marines under command of Army Colonel Robert E. Lee capturing abolitionist John Brown at Harpers Ferry in the late 1850s.

Jim Barber Publisher

CAPT James A. Barber Jr., USN (Ret.) (1934–2017), served thirty years as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy before retiring as a captain. His assignments included three commands at sea: a guided-missile cruiser, a guided-missile frigate, and a destroyer escort. Other assignments included special sea detail officer of the deck of an aircraft carrier, senior watch officer of a destroyer, executive officer of a destroyer, and qualification as a convoy commodore. In 1984 he was appointed CEO and publisher of the U.S. Naval Institute, a position he held for fifteen years.↵ Captain Barber earned a PhD at Stanford University and taught at Vanderbilt, the Naval War College, and George Washington University. His awards include the Navy League’s Alfred Thayer Mahan Award, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with combat “V,” the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, and six awards of the Vietnam Service Medal. In 1999 he was presented with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award, and in 2000 with the Navy’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Award. He published two other books, including The Military and American Society: Essays and Readings, co-edited with Stephen Ambrose.

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