Iconic Image 1

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This month's iconic image is...

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (part 1)!

Intro

The photo was taken by Staff Sergeant Louis Lowery of the United States Marine Corps, during the battle of Iwo Jima. This photo depicts a small group of American marines and navy corpsmen raising a small American flag on top of a mountain. Many are admiring it as it flaps in the breeze while some are standing guard. This image would become a symbol of victory and struggle during the War in the Pacific.

Part I

On February 23, 1945, the marines finally captured Mount Surabachi. This dormant volcanic mountain was the highest peak of Iwo Jima. Tactically and morally it's capture would provide a major advantage to Americans that were still fighting to take the island. Once Japanese resistance had been quelled, marine Lieutenant Colonel Chandler Johnson ordered a platoon to occupy the crest of Mount Surabachi.

At 10 in the morning, 1st Lieutenant Harold Schrier led a 40 man combat patrol up Mount Surabachi. They carried with them, a small American flag from a tank transport ship (USS Missoula). Once they reached the top, the marines found a discarded Japanese iron water pipe lying nearby. After attaching the flag, they raised it on top of the mountain. Minutes later, Staff Sergeant Lowery snapped the photograph and captured the moment. Upon seeing the flag on top of the Surabachi, cheers went all through the American lines. From the marines on the ground to the sailors on the ships off the coast. Seeing Old Glory on the mountain had brought them great pride and joy during one of the most savage battles of World War II.

Seeing the Americans pose for pictures enraged the Japanese that were defending Mount Surabachi. About ten minutes after the photo was taken, two dozen Japanese soldiers charged and fired at the platoon from hidden positions on the mountain. Staff Sergeant Lowery was forced to dive for cover as Lt. Schrier and his comrades quickly scrambled to return fire. Within just five minutes they killed all the attackers.

Part II

A total of eight men are depicted in the photograph. They are Lt. Schrier (kneeling behind the radioman's legs), Pfc. Raymond Jacobs (radioman), Sgt. Henry Hansen (soft cap), Sgt. Ernest Thomas (seated), Pvt. Phil Ward (holding flagstaff with right hand under Hansen's), PhM2c John Bradley (hand on flagstaff above Hansen's), Pfc. James Michels (holding M1 carbine), and Cpl. Charles Lindberg (standing above Michels).

Of these eight, two of them (Sergeant Hansen and Sergeant Thomas) were KIA after the photo was taken. The rest all survived the war and eventually returned to civilian life. For their valor during the battle of Iwo Jima, Schrier, Bradley, and Thomas all received the Navy Cross. Cpl. Lindberg received the Silver Star. All (plus S/Sgt. Lowery) ended up receiving Purple Hearts. 

Epilogue

Although the flag raising on Mount Surabachi had boosted the morale of the American marines and sailors, the fighting on Iwo Jima was far from over. LCT. Johnson decided the flag that had been raised was too small for all the Americans fighting on Iwo Jima to see. He quickly requested that another flag be raised for that purpose. Just hours after it had been raised, the small American flag was lowered and a larger flag was raised. This flag-raising was captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal and would become the symbol of American struggle during the War in the Pacific.

Ultimately, this photo by Louis Lowery became eclipsed by the more famous Rosenthal photograph. Those that had fought to capture Mount Surabachi and raised the first flag were never given the same recognition that the six marines in Rosenthal's photo received. However, this photograph by Louis Lowery still remains an iconic image of the struggle for Iwo Jima. It tells the story of a brave group of young men who put their lives on the line for their country and those that fought beside them.

https://www.livescience.com/iwo-jima-flag-raising.html

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-flag-raised-on-iwo-jima

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/02/iconic-world-war-ii-photo-staged-heroic-true-story/

https://www.chinookobserver.com/life/iwo-jima-a-tale-of-mistaken-identity/article_021a497a-4ebd-11ea-b402-5f206e3e0c25.html

http://www.iwojima.com/raising/first.htm