Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Above: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press

On February 23, 1945, amid the sulfurous smoke and shattered rock of Iwo Jima, a moment of startling clarity rose above one of the Pacific War’s bloodiest battles. Iwo Jima, a volcanic island halfway between the Marianas and Japan, was strategically vital: its airfields would give American bombers fighter escort and an emergency landing strip. Japanese defenders, entrenched in an elaborate network of tunnels and bunkers, turned the island into a killing ground. After days of brutal fighting, U.S. Marines reached the summit of Mount Suribachi, where a small American flag was first raised—quickly replaced by a larger one to ensure it could be seen across the island.

It was during this second raising that Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the now-iconic image of six Marines straining together to plant the flagpole against the wind. Yet almost immediately, confusion followed fame. The chaos of combat, the presence of two flag raisings, and the lack of clear records led to decades of misidentification. Several Marines initially credited were later found not to be in the photograph, while others who were present went unrecognized for years. The U.S. Marine Corps officially revised the identities multiple times, as historians, forensic analysts, and surviving eyewitnesses pieced together the truth frame by frame.

Beyond questions of identity, the image’s legacy is immense. Published within days, it became a symbol of perseverance, unity, and sacrifice, fueling war bond drives and bolstering morale on the home front. Cast in bronze as the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, the scene transcended its moment, coming to represent not just victory, but the collective burden borne by those who fight. In its frozen motion—faces unseen, bodies fused in effort—the photograph endures as a testament to shared struggle rather than individual glory.