Raising the Flag Over Iwo Jima
On February 19th, 1945, US Marines landed on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima, and fought a vicious five week battle. On February 23rd, Marines 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, measuring 96 inches by 56, was found and carried to the top of Mount Suribachi.
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 shot while piling 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.”
Rosenthal did not know it at the time, but as it turned out, he got not just a great shot, but one of the greatest shots of all time. The film was sent to Guam for development, and upon seeing it, his editor exclaimed: “Here’s one for all time!” It was immediately transmitted back to the US, and was soon picked and published by hundreds of newspapers.
As well as one of the most iconic American images of World War II, Rosenthal’s photo also became the only photograph to win a Pulitzer in the same year as its publication. In 1954, the photo was reproduced as a bronze sculpture, the United States Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, erected at an entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
