TBM-1C Avenger Over Mount Suribachi

General Motors Eastern Aircraft Division TBM-1C Avenger flying over Mount Suribachi. This photo was taken by Edward Steichen's photo unit. Edward Steichen (1879-1973) was already world famous for artistic, fashion, and documentary photographs when the US Navy asked him to form a commissioned unit that would travel around the world photographing naval activities and combat. Steichen asked some of the world's best photographers to join him, and they captured some of the most well-known images of the war. Victor Jorgensen, Wayne Miller and Fenno Jacobs were some of the unit members. W. Eugene Smith was rejected, because of his health and lack of college education. Throughout 1942 and 1943 Edward Steichen's special photographic unit operated out of the navy's training literature division. During the last six months of the war Steichen was placed in command of all navy combat photography, and the photography unit increased to 4,000 men. Steichen told them, "Don't photograph the war, photograph the man...the heartaches, plus the dreams of this guy. Photograph the sailor."