[Suhiir]

As you say Russia tends to be a little on the paranoid side due to the number of times it's been invaded. Their mania for buffer states is totally justified and reasonable from their perspective. As are their recent aggressive aerobatic and naval displays, can't have the neighbors thinking you're weak! The problem is I don't think some (many?) members of their government realize that no one in the West has any particular interest in invading them anymore.

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As to the claim that one of the people on Suribachi has been misidentified all these years ...
The three survivors (Bradley, Hayes, and Gagnon) never commented on the matter once they themselves were correctly identified, and I tend to give someone that was actually there and knew the men involved a lot of credibility.