February 23, 1945. It’s a date that will live in famous heroics, war brutality, photography, and bronze.
On the morning of February 23, U.S. troops raised the U.S. flag on a hill known as Mt. Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima — a visual signal to U.S. troops that the high ground had been taken, and the battle turned for the U.S.
First flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on February 23, 1945. Photograph for Leatherneck Magazine by Sgt. Lou Lowery.
Later in the day, an officer ordered a larger flag to be posted, to be more visible. AP photographer Joe Rosenthal caught that raising on film.
Is this the most iconic photo ever? Wikimedia caption: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, Joe Rosenthal’s historic photo depicts five United States Marines and one sailor raising an American flag over Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The image above is an Associated Press photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. It was taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945.
February 23 does not appear in the list of dates by law recommended for Americans to fly the U.S. flag. You may want to fly yours today, anyway.
More:
- Joe Rosenthal — Iconic Iwo Jima photo revealed a lot about war, and about Americans, Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, August 22, 2006, on Rosenthal’s death
- Charles Lindberg, first Iwo Jima flag raising, Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, June 26, 2007
- Last flag-raising vet from Iwo Jima, Raymond Jacobs died, Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, February 7, 2008
- Photo essay at USA Today, “70th anniversary of famous Iwo Jima photo,” February 21, 2015
- “Why 70-year-old Iwo Jima photo became iconic,” Ruth Ben-Ghiat, CNN Online, February 22, 2015
Iwo Jima Memorial, near Washington, D.C.
Mt. Suribachi’s prominence is clear in this photo of the island of Iwo To, as it is known in Japan. Suribachi is a 546-foot (166 m) dormant volcanic cone, on the southern tip of the island. Wikipedia image
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 