Helmet, neck protection and layered equipment give this standing Japanese infantryman a heavily equipped outline. Del Prado’s late-war subject offers a useful contrast with the officers and specialist troops elsewhere in the range.
On 23 February 1945, while a flag was being raised on Mount Suribachi, Hershel “Woody” Williams was working towards Japanese pillboxes with a flamethrower. The photograph on the summit would become the island’s enduring image. Williams’s task belonged to the other Iwo Jima: the close, dangerous work that continued beyond the reach of that picture.
This Del Prado officer is a ground-service subject, with field clothing and equipment arranged around a compact standing pose. The 1944 identification gives him a different role from the aviation lieutenant elsewhere in the collection.
The light uniform and restrained standing pose make this Del Prado aviation lieutenant a quieter subject than an armored pilot ready to climb into an aircraft. The figure is best identified through the full title, clothing and base record together.
