Posted on 04/11/2002 2:19:53 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
By a margin of two-to-one, New York Post readers say the Pulitzer Prize committee missed the boat on Tuesday when it gave its photojournalism award to the New York Times for a series of photos of the Twin Towers' collapse - while snubbing the now-legendary photo, "Flag Raising at Ground Zero."
66 percent of Post readers preferred the photo of firefighters Dan McWilliams, Bill Eisengrein and George Johnson hoisting Old Glory atop a makeshift flag pole they retrieved from the Twin Towers' wreckage just hours after the 9/11 attacks.
33 percent favored the Times series, in the self-selecting online poll.
The Pulitzer committee's decision left critics wondering if the controversy surrounding a 9/11 tribute based on the photo played a role in the choice.
In January, a firestorm of protest erupted after NewsMax.com revealed department-wide discontent over plans for a statue that altered the races of two of the three firemen. (See: Racial Changes Made in Ground Zero Firefighter Tribute)
After a week of nationwide outrage, the FDNY relented, announcing it would search for an alternative memorial.
The famed flag, now a historic icon that many compare the flag raised at Iwo Jima, was last flown two weeks ago in a ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt after it returned to the U.S. after months at sea in the Persian Gulf.
Firefighter McWilliams was invited to the Roosevelt commemoration but couldn't accept because he was busy attending the funeral of a fellow New York City firefighter.
In March, McWilliams, Eisengrein and Johnson were invited to the White House after President Bush personally selected "Flag Raising" for a special-issue commemorative postage stamp.
The picture is great. It says so much. Destruction is in the background, but defeat does not prevail. It's light out, the rescuers, men working together to save America, are restoring the nation's flag, our symbol of honor, peace, integrity, and strength. We aren't watching some plane blow the shit out of a building and destroy both it and those inside, we're seeing Americans work together to save and make our nation an even better place than it was before.
Bush, his administration, and our military are now advancing that cause while others dwell on the negative pictures and criticize the effort. Consider the damage done by the terrorists and the Rats seem to want to protect them! They certainly have no appreciation in the flag raising picture.
We must improve our nation as our founders saw fit and allow it to be decimated in this fashion.
I didn't see this post while I was writing my #24, but your words captured my thoughts.
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