The Most Iconic American Photo of World War II
On February 19th, 1945, US Marines landed on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima, and fought a vicious five week battle. On February 23rd, they captured Mount Suribachi, the island’s dominant geographical feature and highest point. A US flag was quickly raised atop Suribachi’s crest, but it was small, and an officer ordered that it be replaced by a larger flag. So a large flag that measured 96 inches by 56 inches was found and carried to the mountain’s top.
Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal made it to the top of Suribachi in time for this second flag raising, and was in place when five Marines and a Navy corpsman prepared to hoist it. He almost missed the photo shot while he piled rocks to stand upon for a better vantage point. As he described it: “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.”
