Ted Poe: “Harlon Block and his high school teammates took their friendship, bravery and boldness off the football field and on to…”

“Harlon Block and his high school teammates took their friendship, bravery and boldness off the football field and on to the battlefield. Twenty-two-year-old Corporal Block, from the small border town of Weslaco, Texas, would end his journey as a Marine atop an extinct volcano on Iwo Jima. February 23, 1945, the single most patriotic photographic scene in American history would erupt. Six men bowed to raise a large American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, as they said, ``so that every Marine on this cruddy island can see it.'' That picture would be the last for three of those heroes, including Harlon Block. Admiral Chester Nimitz said, ``Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.'' Harlon Block's desire to fight for freedom was a common trait for those warriors who thought the American flag was worth dying for. This Memorial Day we will remember men like Harlon Block, the other 400,000 of the Greatest Generation who died in the great World War II and all those who died in America and for America's service. We shall never flinch, never flee, never fear, because we will never forget the Americans. And that's just the way it is. ____________________”