![Two African-American US Marine Corps DUKW drivers joined in on the battle as riflemen after their DUKW was destroyed during the landing on Iwo Jima, 19 Feb 1945 [Colorized by WW2DB]](/images/ai/20230224/battle_iwojima237.jpg)
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| Caption | Two African-American US Marine Corps DUKW drivers joined in on the battle as riflemen after their DUKW was destroyed during the landing on Iwo Jima, 19 Feb 1945 [Colorized by WW2DB] ww2dbase | ||||||||
| Colorization Note | This photograph was originally a black and white photograph; the colorized version presented here was a derivative work by WW2DB. The colors used in this version were speculative, and could be significantly different from the real colors. Processed using Adobe Photoshop Image Processor, with default neural filter, selecting "None" as the profile. View the original black and white photograph at its own permanent page. | ||||||||
| Photographer | Christian | ||||||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives | ||||||||
| Identification Code | 127-N-111123 | ||||||||
| More on... |
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| Photo Size | 1,425 x 1,046 pixels | ||||||||
| Photos on Same Day | 19 Feb 1945 | ||||||||
| Photos at Same Place | Iwo Jima, Japan | ||||||||
| Added By | C. Peter Chen | ||||||||
| Colorized Date | 24 Feb 2023 | ||||||||
| Licensing | Public Domain. According to the US National Archives, as of 21 Jul 2010: Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
2. 
C. Peter Chen says:
9 May 2013 11:03:58 PM
Ms. Woodward, we thank you for your comment and for your willingness to share your father's WW2 experiences. In this case, the authority for this photo's caption comes from the 1975 study called "Blacks in the Marine Corps" commissioned by the USMC History and Museum Division that includes this very photograph with a caption identifying the two servicemen as US Marines.
C. Peter Chen says:9 May 2013 11:03:58 PM
Ms. Woodward, we thank you for your comment and for your willingness to share your father's WW2 experiences. In this case, the authority for this photo's caption comes from the 1975 study called "Blacks in the Marine Corps" commissioned by the USMC History and Museum Division that includes this very photograph with a caption identifying the two servicemen as US Marines.
3. JOHN MITCHELL says:
24 Mar 2016 06:59:54 PM
Wow! Thank you for enlightening us Deenie Brooks Woddard. I knew African American soldiers were ferrying Marines ashore on Iwo Jima. I didn't know they were dressed in Marine uniform. I used the image of two brothers on the beach in my Play "The Chosen Few." Apparently the controversy can be solved by discovering who is the "Marine" whose face we can plainly see. A slight correction. "Marines would not accept African Americans even when they volunteered." In summer 1942 blacks for the first time trained together at Montford Point, Camp Leguene, Jacksonville, NC. many of these Marines volunteered or were drafted into the Marine Corps. My brother Winston Mitchell and I have a documentary about the black Marines from WWII and the Korean War. The Honorable Mayor David Dinkins is a Marine.
24 Mar 2016 06:59:54 PM
Wow! Thank you for enlightening us Deenie Brooks Woddard. I knew African American soldiers were ferrying Marines ashore on Iwo Jima. I didn't know they were dressed in Marine uniform. I used the image of two brothers on the beach in my Play "The Chosen Few." Apparently the controversy can be solved by discovering who is the "Marine" whose face we can plainly see. A slight correction. "Marines would not accept African Americans even when they volunteered." In summer 1942 blacks for the first time trained together at Montford Point, Camp Leguene, Jacksonville, NC. many of these Marines volunteered or were drafted into the Marine Corps. My brother Winston Mitchell and I have a documentary about the black Marines from WWII and the Korean War. The Honorable Mayor David Dinkins is a Marine.
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| WW2-Era Place Name | Iwo Jima, Japan |
| Lat/Long | 24.7551, 141.2984 |
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9 May 2013 09:35:29 AM
My father Luther B. Brooks, Jr., (an African-American) drove a DUWK amphibious boat which landed on IWO JIMA on February 19, 1945. You called the men in the photograph next to the damaged DUWK, African-American US Marine Corps DUWK. This is not quite true. My father told us that the Black guys were ARMY, not Marines because Marines would not accept African-American men even when they volunteered to fight at that time. He said while they were on the ship, they were given briefings, maps of the island (which I still have) and marine uniforms and told to wear them because it was a "Marine Operation". How is it you fail to get the true facts out about this? The caption should have read two African-American Army soldiers who were given marine uniforms to keep the operation appearing to be a "Marine Operation". No proud moments for the U.S. when they denied African-American men from joining the Marines. So call them what they were - U.S. ARMY soldiers dressed in Marine uniforms. For heavens sake, be truthful.