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Eighty years ago today, on Feb. 23, 1945, a half dozen Marines declared U.S. control of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima by raising the American flag, a moment captured in one of the most iconic photographs in American history. Many were the outstanding heroes of Iwo Jima, for, as Adm. Chester Nimitz said of the U.S. Marines fighting there, “uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
The photo — which actually depicts that day’s second flag raising by the Marines — seemed to capture in one image the struggle and yet the victory, the perseverance, the patriotism, and the courage of the Marines during World War II. Three of the men in that photo would die in combat, and all of them sacrificed greatly to win freedom for America and the world. On Iwo Jima, the Japanese fully illustrated their dedication to their warped philosophy that ended up necessitating the dropping of the atom bombs; namely, that they would fight to the last man (and woman and child) for every inch of Japanese soil. But even so, they could not defeat the mighty U.S. Marine Corps.
The six Marines in the famed image were Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz and Harold Keller, according to the Smithsonian. The first three subsequently died in battle. AP photographer Joe Rosenthal took the photo. If you go to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia — which I highly recommend — you can see the flag that was raised on Mount Suribachi.
