   #copyright

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: World War II

   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February
   23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a
   U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount
   Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The photograph
   was extremely popular, being reprinted in hundreds of publications.
   Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for
   Photography in the same year as its publication, and ultimately came to
   be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of
   the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time. Of
   the six men depicted in the picture, three ( Franklin Sousley, Harlon
   Block, and Michael Strank) did not survive the battle; the three
   survivors ( John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes) became
   celebrities upon the publication of the photo. The picture was later
   used by Felix de Weldon to sculpt the USMC War Memorial, located
   adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, D.C.

Background

   On February 19, 1945, as part of their island hopping strategy to
   defeat Japan, the United States invaded Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was
   originally not a target, but the relatively quick fall of the
   Philippines left the Americans with a longer-than-expected lull prior
   to the planned invasion of Okinawa. Iwo Jima is located half-way
   between Japan and the Mariana Islands, where American long-range
   bombers were based, and was used by the Japanese as an early warning
   station, radioing warnings of incoming American bombers to the Japanese
   homeland. The Americans, after capturing the island, deprived the
   Japanese of their early warning system, and used it as an emergency
   landing strip for damaged bombers, saving many American lives.
   Mount Suribachi is the dominant geographical feature of Iwo Jima.
   Enlarge
   Mount Suribachi is the dominant geographical feature of Iwo Jima.
   A Marine M4 Sherman "Ronson" flame tank scorches a Japanese stronghold.
   Enlarge
   A Marine M4 Sherman "Ronson" flame tank scorches a Japanese stronghold.

   Iwo Jima is a volcanic island, shaped like a trapezoid. The island was
   heavily fortified, and the invading United States Marines suffered high
   casualties. The island is dominated by Mount Suribachi, a 546  foot
   (166  m) dormant volcanic cone situated on the southern tip of the
   island. Politically, the island is part of the prefecture of Tokyo—the
   mayor of Tokyo is the mayor of Iwo Jima. It would be the first Japanese
   homeland soil to be captured by the Americans, and it was a matter of
   honour for the Japanese to prevent its capture.

   Tactically, the top of Suribachi is one of the most important locations
   on the island. From that vantage point, the Japanese defenders were
   able to accurately spot artillery onto the Americans - particularly the
   landing beaches. The Japanese fought most of the battle from
   underground bunkers and pillboxes. It was not uncommon for Marines to
   knock out one pillbox using grenades or a flamethrower, only to have it
   begin shooting again a few minutes later after more Japanese infantry
   slipped into the pillbox using a tunnel. The American effort
   concentrated on isolating and capturing Suribachi first, a goal that
   was achieved on February 23, 1945, four days after the battle began.
   Despite capturing Suribachi, the battle continued to rage for many
   days, and the island would not be declared "secure" until 31 days
   later, on March 26.

Raising the flag

   The famous picture taken by Rosenthal actually captured the second
   flag-raising event of the day. A U.S. flag was first raised atop
   Suribachi soon after it was captured early in the morning of February
   23, 1945. Captain Dave E. Severance, the commander of Easy Company (
   2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division), ordered Lieutenant
   Harold G. Schrier to take a patrol to raise an American flag at the
   summit to signal to others that it had fallen. After a fire-fight, a
   54-by-28  inch (137-by-71 cm) flag was raised, and photographed by
   Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery, a photographer with Leatherneck
   magazine. However, the first flag raised by the Marines was too small
   to be seen easily from the nearby landing beaches.


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

    The Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, had decided the previous
    night that he wanted to go ashore and witness the final stage of the
    fight for the mountain. Now, under a stern commitment to take orders
      from Howlin' Mad Smith, the secretary was churning ashore in the
   company of the blunt, earthy general. Their boat touched the beach just
     after the flag went up, and the mood among the high command turned
    jubilant. Gazing upward, at the red, white, and blue speck, Forrestal
     remarked to Smith: "Holland, the raising of that flag on Suribachi
           means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years."

     Forrestal was so taken with fervor of the moment that he decided he
   wanted the Suribachi flag as a souvenir. The news of this wish did not
       sit well with [2nd Battalion Commander] Chandler Johnson, whose
      temperament was every bit as fiery as Howlin Mad's. 'To hell with
   that!' the colonel spat when the message reached him. The flag belonged
   to the battalion, as far as Johnson was concerned. He decided to secure
       it as soon as possible, and dispatched his assistant operations
   officer, Lieutenant Ted Tuttle, to the beach to scare up a replacement
    flag. As an afterthought, Johnson called after Tuttle "And make it a
                                bigger one."


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

   Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Ira Hayes, and Franklin Sousley spent the
   morning of the 23rd laying a telephone wire to the top of Suribachi, on
   orders from Colonel Chandler Johnson, passed on by Captain Severance.
   Severance also dispatched Rene Gagnon, a runner, to the command post
   for fresh SCR-300 batteries. Meanwhile, according to the official
   Marine Corps history, Tuttle had found a flag in nearby LST 779, made
   his way back to the command post, and gave it to Johnson. Johnson, in
   turn, gave it to Gagnon with orders to take it back up Suribachi and
   raise it. The official Marine Corps history of the event is that Tuttle
   received the flag from Ensign Alan Wood of LST 779, who in turn had
   received the flag from a supply depot in Pearl Harbour. However, the
   Coast Guard Historian's Office supports claims made by Robert Resnick,
   who served aboard LST 758. "Before he died in November 2004, Resnick
   said Gagnon came aboard LST-758 the morning of Feb. 23 looking for a
   flag. Resnick said he grabbed one from a bunting box and asked
   permission from commanding officer Lt. Felix Molenda to donate it.
   Resnick kept quiet about his participation until 2001." The flag itself
   was sewn by Mabel Sauvageau, a worker at the "flag loft" of the Mare
   Island Naval Shipyard.

   The Marines reached the top of the mountain around noon, where Gagnon
   joined them. Despite the large numbers of Japanese troops in the
   immediate vicinity, the 40-man patrol made it to the top of the
   mountain without being fired at once, as the Japanese were under
   bombardment at the time.

   Rosenthal, along with Marine photographers Bob Campbell and Bill
   Genaust (who was killed in action nine days after the flag raising) was
   climbing Suribachi at this time. On the way up, the trio met Lowery
   (the man who photographed the first flag raising). They had been
   considering turning around, but Lowery told them that the summit was an
   excellent vantage point from which to take pictures.

   Along with Navy corpsman Bradley, the Marines raised the U.S. flag
   using an old Japanese water pipe for a flagpole. Rosenthal's trio
   reached the summit as the marines were attaching the flag to the pipe.
   Rosenthal put down his Speed Graphic camera (which was set to 1/400th
   of a second shutter speed, with the f-stop between 8 and 16) on the
   ground so he could pile rocks to stand on for a better vantage point.
   In doing so, he nearly missed the shot. Realizing he was about to miss
   it, Rosenthal quickly swung his camera up and snapped the photograph
   without using the viewfinder. Ten years after the flag-raising,
   Rosenthal wrote:


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

    Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I
   swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken,
    and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you
                      got a great shot. You don't know.


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

   Bill Genaust, who was standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with
   Rosenthal about thirty yards from the flag raising, was shooting
   motion-picture film during the flag-raising. His film captures the flag
   raising at an almost-identical angle to Rosenthal's famous shot.
   Flag raised atop Suribachi (from 16mm color film), by Marine Sgt. Bill
   Genaust
   Enlarge
   Flag raised atop Suribachi (from 16mm colour film), by Marine Sgt. Bill
   Genaust
     * Video of the flag raising on Iwo Jima
          + Film shot by Bill Genaust, excerpted from the 1945 "Carriers
            Hit Tokyo" newsreel. (Note: this reproduction is
            black-and-white, whereas Genaust's original footage was
            colour)
     * .

   Of the six men pictured — Michael Strank, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes,
   Franklin Sousley, John Bradley (the Navy corpsman), and Harlon Block —
   only three (Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley) survived the battle. Strank was
   killed six days after the flag raising when a shell, likely fired from
   an offshore American destroyer, tore his heart out; Block was killed by
   a mortar a few hours after Strank; Sousley — the last of the
   flag-raisers to succumb — was shot and killed by a sniper on March 21,
   a few days before the Island was declared secure.

Publication and staging controversy

   Following the flag raising, Rosenthal sent his film to Guam to be
   developed and printed. George Tjaden of Hendricks, Minnesota was likely
   the technician who printed it. Upon seeing it, AP photo editor John
   Bodkin exclaimed "Here's one for all time!" and immediately
   radiophotoed the image to the AP headquarters in New York at 7:00 a.m.,
   Eastern War Time. The photograph was picked up off the wire very
   quickly by hundreds of newspapers. It "was distributed by Associated
   Press within seventeen and one-half hours after Rosenthal shot it—an
   astonishingly fast turnaround time in those days."

   However, the photo was not without controversy. Following the second
   flag raising, Rosenthal had the Marines of Easy Company pose for a
   group shot, the " gung-ho" shot. This was also documented by Bill
   Genaust. A few days after the picture was taken, back on Guam,
   Rosenthal was asked if he had posed the photo. Thinking the questioner
   was referring to the 'gung-ho' picture, he replied "Sure." After that,
   Robert Sherrod, a Time-Life correspondent, told his editors in New York
   that Rosenthal had staged the flag-raising photo. TIME's radio show,
   'Time Views the News', broadcast a report, charging that "Rosenthal
   climbed Suribachi after the flag had already been planted... Like most
   photographers [he] could not resist reposing his characters in historic
   fashion."

   As a result of this report, Rosenthal was repeatedly accused of having
   staged the picture, or covering up the first flag raising. One New York
   Times book reviewer even went so far as to suggest revoking his
   Pulitzer Prize. For the decades that have followed, Rosenthal
   repeatedly and vociferously refuted claims that the flag raising was
   staged. "I don't think it is in me to do much more of this sort of
   thing... I don't know how to get across to anybody what 50 years of
   constant repetition means." Genaust's film also shows the claim that
   the flag-raising was staged to be erroneous.

The 7th war bond drive and the sixth man controversy

   John Bradley, who temporarily needed crutches following the battle due
   to shrapnel injuries, appearing next to a poster for the 7th War bond
   drive
   Enlarge
   John Bradley, who temporarily needed crutches following the battle due
   to shrapnel injuries, appearing next to a poster for the 7th War bond
   drive

   Upon seeing the photo, President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized the
   picture would make an excellent symbol for the upcoming 7th war bond
   drive, and ordered the Marines identified and brought home. The Marines
   were brought home at the conclusion of the battle. Using a photo
   enlargement, Rene Gagnon identified the others in the photograph, but
   refused to identify the sixth man (Hayes), insisting he had promised to
   keep the man's name a secret. Gagnon had promised not to discuss
   Hayes's identity only because Hayes—who despised Gagnon—had threatened
   to kill him. After being brought to Marine Corps headquarters and
   informed that he was being ordered by the President to reveal the
   information, and that refusing an order to reveal the name would be a
   serious crime, Gagnon revealed Hayes's name.

   Gagnon also misidentified Harlon Block as Sergeant Henry O. "Hank"
   Hansen, who had not survived the battle (but who had, incidentally,
   participated in the first flag raising). On April 8, 1945, the Marines
   Corps released the identification of five of the flag raisers
   (including Hansen)—Sousley's identity was withheld pending notification
   of his family of his death during the battle.

   The three survivors went on a whirlwind bond tour. The tour was a
   smashing success, raising $23.3 billion, twice the tour's goal.
   In late 1946, Ira Hayes broke his silence and revealed that Harlon
   Block had been misidentified as Hank Hansen.
   Enlarge
   In late 1946, Ira Hayes broke his silence and revealed that Harlon
   Block had been misidentified as Hank Hansen.

   Questions lingered about the misidentification of Harlon Block. His
   mother, Belle Block, refused to accept the official identification,
   noting that she had "changed so many diapers on that boy's butt, I know
   it's my boy." Immediately on arrival in Washington, D.C. on April 19,
   Hayes noticed the misidentification in the photo, and noted this to the
   Marine public relations officer who had been assigned to him. The
   public relations officer told Hayes that the identifications had
   already been officially released, and ordered Hayes to keep silent
   about it.

   Over a year and a half later, amidst the depression and alcoholism that
   would characterize the rest of his life following the war, Ira Hayes
   hitchhiked to Texas to inform Block's family that Block had, in fact,
   been the sixth flag raiser.


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

       Ira remembered what Rene Gagnon and John Bradley could not have
   remembered, because they did not join the little cluster until the last
    moment: that it was Harlon [Block], Mike [Strank], Franklin [Sousley]
      and himself [Hayes] who had ascended Suribachi midmorning to lay
      telephone wire; it was Rene [Gagnon] who had come along with the
         replacement flag. Hansen had not been part of this action.


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

   Block's mother, Belle, immediately composed a letter to her
   congressional representative Milton West. West, in turn, forwarded the
   letter to Marine Corps Commandant Alexander Vandegrift, who ordered an
   investigation. Both Bradley and Gagnon, upon being shown the evidence,
   agreed that it was probably Block and not Hansen. Block, Hansen and
   Hayes were all parachute-trained Paramarines.

Legacy

   Rosenthal's photo won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Photography, the
   first and only photograph to win the prize in the same year it was
   taken. Following publication of the photograph,


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

    News pros were not the only ones bedazzled by the photo. Navy Captain
       T.B. Clark was on duty at Patuxent Air Station in Maryland that
   Saturday when it came humming off the wire. He studied it for a minute,
      and then thrust it under the gaze of Navy Petty Officer Felix de
      Weldon. De Weldon was an Austrian immigrant schooled in European
      painting and sculpture. De Weldon could not take his eyes off the
   photo. In its classic triangular lines he recognized similarities with
     the ancient statues he had studied. He reflexively reached for some
    sculptor's clay and tools. With the photograph before him he labored
    through the night. By dawn, he had replicated the six boys pushing a
                            pole, raising a flag.


   Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

   Starting in 1951, de Weldon was commissioned to design a memorial to
   the Marine Corps. It took de Weldon and hundreds of his assistants
   three years to finish it. The three survivors posed for de Weldon, who
   used their faces as a model. The other three who did not survive were
   sculpted from pictures.

   Most people are unaware that the flag raising Rosenthal photographed
   was the second that day. This led to resentment from those marines who
   took part in the nearly-forgotten first flag raising. Charles W.
   Lindberg, who participated in the first flag raising (and who as of
   2006 is the last living person depicted in either flag raising)
   complained that he "was called a liar and everything else. It was
   terrible."
   The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia
   Enlarge
   The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, located in Arlington, Virginia

   The photograph is currently in the possession of Roy H. Williams, who
   bought it from the estate of John Faber, the official historian for the
   National Press Photographers Association, who had received it from
   Rosenthal. Both flags (from the first and second flag raisings) are now
   located in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the Quantico,
   Virginia.

   Following the war, plagued with depression brought on by survivor
   guilt, Hayes became an alcoholic. His tragic life was memorialized in
   the country song "The Ballad of Ira Hayes", written by Peter LaFarge
   and recorded by Johnny Cash in 1964. Bob Dylan later covered the song,
   as did author and singer Kinky Friedman. The song notes that after the
   war,

     Then Ira started drinkin' hard
     Jail was often his home
     They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
     Like you'd throw a dog a bone!
     He died drunk early one mornin'
     Alone in the land he fought to save
     Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
     Was a grave for Ira Hayes.

   The plaque placed on Mount Suribachi by John Bradley's family, shaped
   like the state of Wisconsin
   Enlarge
   The plaque placed on Mount Suribachi by John Bradley's family, shaped
   like the state of Wisconsin

   Following the war, Bradley was staunchly tight-lipped about his
   experiences, often deflecting questions by claiming he had forgotten.
   During his 47-year marriage, he only talked about it with his wife
   Betty once, on their first date, and never again afterwards. Within the
   family, it was considered a taboo subject. He gave exactly one
   interview, in 1985, at the urging of his wife, who had told him to do
   it for the sake of their grandchildren. Following Bradley's death in
   1994, his family went to Suribachi in 1997 and placed a plaque (made of
   Wisconsin granite and shaped like that state) on the spot where the
   flag raising took place. At the time of his death, Bradley's son, James
   Bradley knew almost nothing of his father's wartime experiences. As a
   catharsis, James Bradley spent four years interviewing the families of
   all the flag raisers, and published Flags of Our Fathers, a definitive
   book on the flag raising and its participants. This book inspired a
   2006 movie of the same name, directed by Clint Eastwood.
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