Anchor Struck

The flag raising that propelled Ira Hayes into global consciousness has some fascinating

foot notes that are generally left out in the retelling.  Such is myth.  Please allow me to

calibrate it to the truth a bit.

As the Allies closed in on Japan at the end of World War II, they dealt the Imperial

Japanese Navy a crippling blow in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, a fight so lopsided

that it was nicknamed “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.

This put the Allies well ahead of schedule for the crucial invasion of Okinawa.  Although

Iwo Jima was not originally part of the island-hopping campaign, the island described by

Marines as “a grey pork chop” had great strategic and symbolic importance.

The Japanese used it as an early warning station to alert the mainland of incoming bombers,

and it was part of the prefecture of Tokyo.  It would be the first patch of Japanese soil to fall.

The fighting was furious and the Marines suffered heavy casualties.  It took 31 days to secure

the island.

Mount Suribachi, a dormant volcano cone on the southern tip of Iwo Jima, was of supreme

tactical value.  When it fell, a U.S. flag was immediately raised.  James Forrestal, the Secretary

of the Navy, had landed with the high command.  He was so impressed that he wanted the flag

as a souvenir.

Chandler Johnson, commanding officer of the unit that raised the flag, begged to differ.  He

thought the flag belonged to his battalion, so he ordered a replacement flag, “a bigger one”.

Hayes, along with Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley and Michael Strank, had been stringing

telephone line up Suribachi as the first photo was taken.  Rene Gagnon had been sent for

walky-talky batteries at the command post, where he was given the larger flag.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal was walking up Suribachi when he was

greeted by Louis Lowery, who had taken the first photo.  Rosenthal considered turning

around, but Lowery told him the summit was excellent for photos.

Rosenthal, who had been rejected by the Army for poor eyesight, almost missed the shot.

The Marines, along with Navy Corpsman John Bradley, had attached the flag to an old

Japanese water pipe and began to raise it as a second group of Marines lowered the first

flag.  He swung around and clicked without using his viewfinder.

He also took a photo of the two groups gathered around the flag, the “gung-ho” shot.

When he was asked several days later if he had staged the shot, he said “sure”, referring

to the secondary photo.  He tried to clear up the misunderstanding for decades.

A book reviewer for The New York Times suggested that Rosenthal lose his Pulitzer

Prize for the photo, the only time the prize was awarded in the same year it was taken.

Over the years he tired of the controversy.

“I don’t think it is in me to do much more of this sort of thing,” he once said, “I don’t

know how to get across to anybody what 50 years of constant repetition means.”

Both flag raising photos, along with a film of the second raising are available here.