This is one of the most famous pictures in American History. After at least three movies, and September 11 (when comparisons were drawn from this photograph to the picture of the fireman raising a flag at the WTC) it is a good bet that most people would be able to tell you that this is a picture of the U.S. Marines raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi at Iwo Jima.
The only problem is, apparently the island was not called Iwo Jima. Like Bunker Hill (which was actually fought on Breed's Hill), Iwo Jima was not known as Iwo Jima until someone made an error in paperwork. In fact, until the error, which is believe to have happened during the evacuation of the island's inhabitants in 1944, the island was referred to as Iwo To.
Both Iwo Jima and Iwo To mean the same thing: Sulphur Island. The residents of the island, unhappy with the publicity of the movies Flag of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima have been mounting a campaign to have the name of the island changed back to Iwo To. This campaign has succeeded, and the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute will start printing maps with the name altered to its original.
Apparently, the hubub started when the former inhabitants and current inhabitants of Ogasawara (the municipality which administers Iwo Jima and 2 other islands) were upset because of the usage of Iwo Jima as opposed to Iwo To in the movies.
No matter how many times you tell someone that the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on Breed's Hill, people still call the ground Bunker Hill. Somehow, I think that Iwo To will forever be referred to as Iwo Jima.
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