USS Lowndes Boat (LCVP) stuck in the black sand of Iwo Jima
Colliers photo acquired by David Brinkman in an Auction in 2003
USS Lowndes Boat #21 (PA154-21)
In the summer of 2002, I talked to Lowndes' crewman James Ross about the Joe Rosenthal pillbox photo on Yellow
beach of Iwo Jima
(which my Dad had identified, in some notes, as the evacuation station area of the Lowndes). Mr. Ross
said the only nationally published photo involving the Lowndes (that he knew of) was
a photo that appeared in Colliers Magazine that showed one of the Lowndes landing boats
broached in the surf at Iwo Jima next to a jeep that was also stuck in the sand. Mr. Ross
said he lost the photo some years back. About a year after talking to Mr. Ross,
I came across a 1946 Colliers Book in an Internet auction (ebay) that included a collection of their photos from WWII.
I decided to bid on it and, being the only bidder, I got if for $10. When I received the
book, I went straight to the Iwo Jima photos and there it was... Just as Mr. Ross had described.
About a month after finding
this book I also located a copy of the original magazine with a larger photo and story about Iwo Jima.
Above is the 1946 Colliers Book cover and below is the actual Colliers Magazine April 1945 issue (cover) that first published the photo.
The magazine photo was larger than the book photo and I've included the boat #21 portion of this larger photo below.
May 2005 update: This photo was taken by USMC Sgt. R. W. Hulstay, 5th Marine Division, photo# USMC 109604.
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