The flag raising on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima in that photo was a re-creation.
The original flag raising was done with a much smaller flag when the marines reached the top. The second raising was ordered by 2nd Battalion Commander Chandler Johnson. There's a whole back story to the event.
Thanks for the note. I do know the back story, having read pretty widely about the Pacific Theatre and Iwo Jima in particular.
I've seen the photo of the first flag raising. Calling the second raising a "re-creation" goes too far, I think - the second raising took place because the Marines were ordered to raise a larger flag, and Joe Rosenthal was in the right place at the right time to capture the event. It was not "staged" by Rosenthal or anyone else, as was alleged after the iconic photo was published.
And, given the nearly perfect photo, an image so meaningful in capturing the essence of why we were fighting that the Marines pictured were ordered home to help sell War Bonds, I think describing it as Caught at Exactly the Right Moment rings true.