By Don Vaughan

Joe Rosenthal's photograph of six Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima is one of the most iconic images of World War II. The Marines pictured were Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, Pvt. 1st Class Franklin Sousley, Pvt. 1st Class Rene Gagnon, Cpl. Ira Hayes, and Cpl. Harold Schultz. Sadly, three didn't make it off the island alive: Strank, Block, and Sousley were killed in action just days later.

Rosenthal photographed the flag raising Feb. 23, 1945; the photograph was published in newspapers across the U.S. two days later. The image garnered Rosenthal a Pulitzer Prize and was used by sculptor Felix de Weldon for the creation of the Marine Corps War Memorial near the Ord-Weitzel Gate to Arlington National Cemetery, Va. 

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