Posted on 09/01/2006 5:37:25 AM PDT by fatrat
USS Iwo Jima - Sailors aboard the multipurpose, amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) paused to remember AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, who died Aug. 20 at the age of 94.
Rosenthal’s photograph of the flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 became the most famous image of World War II – an instantly recognizable symbol of the sacrifices made by American service members during the Pacific campaign.
Rosenthal’s image, later immortalized by sculptor Felix DeWeldon as the U.S Marine Corps Memorial in Washington D.C., also serves as the official logo of LHD 7.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., Feb. 23, 1945, Marines from Easy Co., 2/28 raised the American flag over Mt. Suribachi, signaling the capture of the strategic position.
It was then that Rosenthal noticed a Marine named Rene Gagnon scurrying up the cliffs with a larger flag tucked under his arm. He had been dispatched to the summit to help replace the first flag with a much larger one – one that could be seen across the entire island.
Although he missed the first flag-raising, Rosenthal instinctively prepared his camera in the off-chance he might get the second.
“I saw a small group of Marines assembling a pole on the ground,” Rosenthal remembered in a recent documentary. “I said, ‘What are you doing, fellas,’ and one of them responded, ‘We’re getting ready to put up this larger flag. The colonel down below wants it up. He also wants to make damn sure he gets that first flag back.’”
What he captured in 1/400th of a second proved an enormous sensation to the public back home, and made instant celebrities out of Sgt. Mike Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, Cpl. Ira Hayes, Pfc. Franklin Sousley and Navy Pharmacist’s Mate John Bradley.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
A Great Ship and Crew Pause to Remember and Reflect.
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