Taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, this is one of the most famous photographs in history. There has been confusion over the years as to who is in this picture, until very recently. Here is the latest account from wiki:
“The flag raising occurred in the early afternoon, after the mountaintop was captured and a smaller flag was raised on top that morning. Three of the six Marines in the photograph—Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, and Private First Class Franklin Sousley—would be killed in action during the battle; Block was identified as Sergeant Hank Hansen until January 1947 and Sousley was identified as PhM2c. John Bradley, USN, until June 2016.[1] The other three Marines in the photograph were Corporals (then Privates First Class) Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz, and Harold Keller; Schultz was identified as Sousley until June 2016[1] and Keller was identified as Rene Gagnon until October 2019.[2] All of the men served in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima.”
Surprised (and I’ll admit somewhat disappointed) to see that none of these men had Irish surnames. John Bradley himself or his forebears would have been from the Auld Country but I see that he’s been erased from this particular bit of history. Sure and now, isn’t that the story of the Wearers of the Green in a nutshell? 😉