December 14, 1949: “Sands of Iwo Jima” Premieres

December 14, 1949: Sands of Iwo Jima premieres, cementing John Wayne as the toughest guy the U.S. Marine Corps never actually had.

It uses footage from an earlier documentary about the battle, which ran from February 19 to March 26, 1945, and re-enacts the famous flag-raising of February 23. The 3 men then believed to be the survivors among the 6 actual flag-raisers – Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes and John Bradley – appear as extras. (Michael Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley never made it off the island alive. Harold Schultz, misidentified as Bradley, was, ironically, the last survivor, living just past the 50th Anniversary, in 1995.)

Wayne's starring role in this film, as Sergeant John M. Stryker, indelibly linked him with the U.S. military effort in World War II, and with the Marines in particular, even though he hadn't served in the war: He was classified 3-A, meaning he had a deferment as his family's sole means of support. In the Vietnam War era, Wayne despised draft dodgers, but while he didn't serve himself, it should be noted that he did not dodge: He simply wasn't drafted.

In spite of all the characters killed, including Stryker -- usually the hero, Wayne rarely died in his films -- Sands of Iwo Jima became the greatest propaganda the Marine Corps had ever had, at least until the 1970s, when they began filming recruitment commercials: "Maybe you can be one of us: The few, the proud, the Marines."

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December 14, 1949 was a Thursday. Bill Buckner was born.

Baseball was out of season. Football's regular season was over, with only the college bowl games and the NFL Championship Game (which the Philadelphia Eagles won over the Los Angeles Rams) remaining. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 94-84 at the old Madison Square Garden. Carl Braun led the Knicks with 26 points. Braun's contribution to NBA lore is that, when practicing free throws, if one went through, hitting "nothing but net," he would imitate the sound it made, saying, "Swish!" Knicks broadcaster Marty Glickman picked it up, and popularized it. For a later generation, New York sportscaster Warner Wolf used it.

For the defending, and soon to be again, Champion Lakers, George Mikan scored 38 points, but no other player scored more than 8. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

* The Washington Capitols beat the St. Louis Bombers, 79-61 at the Uline Arena (later the Washington Coliseum). The Bombers folded at the end of this 1949-50 season, while the Caps lasted 1 more season.

* The Syracuse Nationals beat the Fort Wayne Pistons, 96-83 at the State Fair Coliseum in Syracuse, New York. The Pistons moved to Detroit in 1957, and the Nats became the Philadelphia 76ers in 1963.

* The Tri-Cities Blackhawks beat the Chicago Stags, 73-68 at the Wharton Field House in Moline, Illinois. The Stags folded at the end of the 1949-50 season.

Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, formerly the home of a charter NFL franchise, the Rock Island Independents, and Davenport, Iowa, right across the Mississippi River, had called themselves the "Tri-Cities" since World War I.

In the 1930s, East Moline, Illinois had grown to the point that the term "Quad Cities" began to be used, but it wasn't fully accepted. In 1948, Alcoa opened a plant in Bettendorf, Iowa, and the city grew to the point where the term "Quint Cities" began to be used. That didn't catch on, but Bettendorf could no longer be ignored, so Moline, Rock Island, Davenport and Bettendorf are the "Quad Cities."

In 1951, the Blackhawks moved, becoming the Milwaukee Hawks. They moved again, becoming the St. Louis Hawks in 1955, and the Atlanta Hawks in 1968. Today, the Quad Cities metropolitan area is home to about 475,000 people, much too small for a major league sports franchise.

The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Class A baseball team (3 steps below the major leagues) playing in Davenport, and the Quad City Thunder were a minor-league basketball team, playing at the Blackhawks' old venue, the Wharton Field House, which still stands.

* And the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Waterloo Hawks, 73-70 at the McElroy Auditorium in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks -- not to be confused with the Blackhawks-turned-Hawks -- folded in 1951, and remain the only major league sports team Iowa have ever had. The Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962, taking on the name "Golden State Warriors" in 1971.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.