Happy anniversary, Iwo Marines; Update!

Today is the anniversary of the Feb. 23, 1945 raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi by Marines assaulting the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. The photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, became an instant icon, appearing on hundreds of newspaper front pages and even becoming a postage stamp. Five Marines and a Navy corpsman -- you will have a hard time finding a Marine who doesn't consider their Navy medics every bit as deserving of the title Marine -- raised the flag on top of the island's highest point only four days into the invasion. It would take more than a month -- a very bloody month -- to secure the island, so the raising was mainly symbolic, but it was a powerfuld symbol, and Rosenthal's photo captured it:

On the other hand, the first flag-raising goes largely unnoticed. It turned out the first flag was too small to be seen from the ships offshore, so the larger, second flag was raised. Different people involved, different photogapher.

Iwo Jima, of course, is one of the most sacred events in Marine history, and I intentionally use the term "sacred."  The battle led Adm. Chester Nimitz, the commander-in-chief of U.S. naval forces and of all allied forces in the Pacific, to say, "uncommon valor was a common virtue."  James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, said that "The raising of the flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years," effectively putting a halt to talk of doing away with the Marine Corps.

Of course, the photo is the basis for the Marine Corps Memorial outside of Arlington Cemetary"

Thanks to americanveteranscenter.org  for the photo.

Update: This is a photo of the memorial that sits at the site of the flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi:

Also, there are smaller replicas of the Marine Corps Memorial located just outside the front gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, adjacent to the parade deck at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, and just inside the main gate at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kāne'ohe Bay, Hawaii. As the son of a Marine and the father of a Marine, I have been to all three, two of them repeatedly because I lived in those places as a child, and the third, at Parris Island, when I attended my son's graduation from boot camp. All of them are inspiring. Semper Fi, Marines - happy aniversary.

February 23, 1945

It was 68 years ago today that Marines of the 28th Marine Regiment raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle for Iwo Jima. The famous photo is of the raising of a second, larger flag and was taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. The first flag raising was photographed by Sgt. Louis R. Lowery.  The second flag-raising featured a much larger flag and a different group of Marines and a Navy corpsman. Sgt. Lowery's film was sent for processing via standard military channels and took a month to be made public. Rosenthal's was sent by seaplane to Guam and wired to the States via the AP, where it was quickly widely published on its way to winning Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize.

Far from being the end of the fight for the island, the battle raged for 31 more days and stands as one of the toughest, most vicious fights in Marine Corps history. Several of the men in Rosenthal's photo did not survive the battle.

Photo from The Marine Times.