80: Flag Raising

 

80 years ago today (February 23, 1945) 6 US Marines raised the American Flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, the photograph was published in Sunday Newspapers two days later and reprinted in thousands of publications.

It won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Photography and has come to be regarded in the United States as one of the most recognizable images of World War II.

The Six Flag Raisers were:

Harlon Block: A Corporal from Texas who was Killed in Action in Iwo Jima on March 1, 1945 at 20 years old.

Harold Keller: A Corporal from Iowa who died in 1979 at 57 years old. He was not identified as the Flag-Raiser until 2019.

Franklin Sousley: A Private First Class from Kentucky who was Killed in Action on Iwo Jima on March 21, 1945 at 19 years old.

Michael Strank: A Sergent from Pennsylvania via Czechoslovakia (Present Day Slovakia) who was Killed in Action on Iwo Jima on March 1, 1945 at the age of 25.

Harold Schultz: A Corporal from Michigan who died in 1990 at 70 years old. He was not identified as a Flag-Raiser until 2016.

Ira Hayes: A Corporal from Arizona who died in 1955 at 32.