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Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
Raising the Flag on
Iwo Jima is an iconic 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
instantly 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 in history, 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 suddenly famous. The photograph was later used by
Felix de Weldon to sculpt the USMC War Memorial, located just
outside Washington, D.C.
There are six Flag
Raisers on the photo. Four in the front line and two in back. The
front four are (left to right) Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John
Bradley and Harlon Block. The back two are Michael Strank (behind
Sousley) and Rene Gagnon (behind Bradley).
This photo was the
second flag raising on Mount Suribachi. After the first flag
was raised, it was deemed too small to be seen all over the island
and Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, the Battalion Commander, directed
one of his officers to find a larger flag from one of the ships on
the beach. He wanted a larger flag so it could be seen over the
entire island and lift the spirits of his men (see
First Flag Raising).
As the second and
larger flag was being carried up the slopes of Suribachi, Associated
Press photographer Joe Rosenthal was just beginning his hard climb
up the mountain. When he arrived at the top, the first flag was
getting ready to be lowered while the second flag was getting ready
to be raised. At first, Rosenthal hoped to photograph the lowering
of the first flag together with the raising of the larger flag. When
he discovered that he would not have time to line up both pictures,
he decided to concentrate on the second flag raising. This photo is
probably the most famous single photograph ever taken and won many
awards. It also became the model for the Iwo Jima Memorial near
Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The memorial, dedicated in
1954 and known officially as the Marine Corps War Memorial,
commemorates the Marines who died taking the Pacific island in World
War II.
Another photo taken
shortly after the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi shows four of the
Flag Raisers (Bradley, Hayes, Sousley and Strank) with their jubilant
buddies. Strank, Sousley and many of these boys would soon be dead.
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