Michael E. Haskew
While the names of the Marines who were a part of the first Iwo Jima flag raising on Suribachi were relegated to the status of a historical footnote, those of the six men who raised the second flag became household words. Sergeant Michael Strank, Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class John H. Bradley, Corporal Harlon H. Block, and Pfcs. Ira H. Hayes, Franklin R. Sousley, and Rene A. Gagnon will forever be remembered. Block, Sousley, and Strank did not survive the battle for Iwo Jima. Bradley, Gagnon, and Hayes became celebrities.
The Iwo Jima Flag Raising Becomes an Enduring Symbol
Sculptor Felix de Weldon used Rosenthal’s photograph as the model for the sculpture at the U.S. Marine War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, which was dedicated in 1954. The image has been reproduced on everything from postage stamps to coffee mugs and T-shirts.
In 1999, a New York University survey named it number 68 on the list of the 100 best examples of journalism in the 20th century. It has become the symbol of the Marine Corps for all time. Joe Rosenthal, who died in 2006 at the age of 94, remembered the Marines and their great sacrifice as being much more significant than his photograph. He once said, “What I see behind the photo is what it took to get up those heights, the kind of devotion to their country that those young men had, and the sacrifices they made. I take some gratification in being a little part of what the U.S. stands for.”
Michael E. Haskew is the editor of WWII History Magazine and the former editor of World War II Magazine . He is the author of a number of books, including THE MARINES IN WORLD WAR II. The Sniper at War and Order of Battle. Haskew is also the editor of The World War II Desk Reference with the Eisenhower Center for American Studies. He lives in Hixson, Tennessee.
