Shadow of Suribachi

The men are, from left to right, Ira Hayes, Harold Henry Schultz, Michael Strank, Franklin Sousley, Harold 'Pie' Keller and Harlon Block. Keller was confirmed in 2019, while Schultz was confirmed in 2016.

Shadow of Suribachi: Raising The Flags on Iwo Jima (1995) is a book released during the 50th anniversary of the flag-raising(s) atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II which was written by Parker Bishop Albee, Jr. and Keller Cushing Freeman. The book mainly examines the controversy over the identification of the flag-raiser who was positioned at the base of the flagpole in Joe Rosenthal’s Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photograph of the second flag-raising on February 23, 1945.

Overview

Though the authors cover and debunk the various staging myths that have haunted the famous photograph of six men (three were later killed in action after the flag was raised) raising the flag, much of the book is devoted to the story of Sergeant Hank Hansen who was first identified and believed to be in Rosenthal’s famous photograph which became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial that was completed in 1954. Hansen was a member of the 40-man combat patrol mostly from Third Platoon, E Company, 28th Marines, that climbed up Mount Suribachi and raised the first of two flags atop Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945. After the battle of Iwo Jima, Hansen (killed in action on March 1) was incorrectly identified as a flag-raiser in the photograph by E Company’s runner (messenger) during the battle, Rene Gagnon, who helped raise the second flag. E Company’s Third Platoon corpsman, John Bradley (incorrectly named a second flag-raiser), also misidentified Hansen as a second flag-raiser. Marine Ira Hayes was the only second flag-raiser (Gagnon, Hayes, and Block were not members of the 40-man patrol) who correctly said the person in the photograph thought to be Hansen was really Corporal Harlon Block. Block was not officially recognized as a second flag-raiser until January 1947.

Ira Hayes Questions Misidentification

Recounted is the story of how Ira Hayes (a surviving second-flag-raiser named by Gagnon) knew that it was actually Corporal Harlon Block and not Hansen in Rosenthal’s photograph (Block and Hansen were both killed in action on Iwo Jima, on March 1, 1945), and tried to bring the “error” to the attention of the Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who was interviewing him about the flag-raising in April 1945 (same person interviewed Gagnon on April 7, and days later, Bradley), in Washington, D.C., before the May 11, 7th War Loan drive (7th bond selling tour; Gagnon, Hayes, and Bradley were to take the actual second-flag with them to 33 U.S. cities across America to sell bonds to help pay for the war) but was told that since both Hansen and Block names were already released publicly as being flag-raisers in the photograph by the Marine Corps (on April 8) and since both were deceased, he should let it go (Hayes was ordered back to E Company in Hawaii on April 24 and left April 25 before the bond tour ended on July 4). Their story differs from that of most Hayes biographers as they transcribe a letter which Hayes wrote to Belle Block (Harlon’s mother) on July 12, 1946, confirming it was her son Harlon in the photograph (after she first wrote to him). The authors’ do not mention the “hitchhiking to Texas to tell them the truth” story.

After Belle Block sent Hayes’ letter to her congressman through Mr. Block in September 1946, the congressman wrote the Marine Corps asking them to look into the matter. Hayes (second flag-raisers Hayes, Block, Michael Strank, and Franklin Sousley were members of Second Platoon, E Company) gave an affidavit listing the names of the six flag-raisers (including Bradley) in the photograph to the Marine Corps during their investigation the following December (began on December 4) into the identities of the six flag-raisers in Rosenthal’s photograph, stating on the record that it was actually Block and not Hansen in the photograph, and pointed out several significant uniform discrepancies between the figure in the famous photograph and that of Hansen in photographs taken earlier that day and in Rosenthal’s “Gung Ho” photograph of several Marines (sixteen Marines and two corpsmen) including Hansen (wearing his cap and parachutist boots) under the second flag/flagstaff taken only moments after the second flag-raising.

Before seeing Hayes’ hand-written notes and identifications on the photographs, both Gagnon and Bradley sent notarized statements reaffirming their earlier identification of Hansen. After being shown Hayes’ material, Bradley wrote a letter to the investigators which he ended by saying, “...it could be Block.” Hayes’ material and Bradley’s letter were then sent to Gagnon, who, according to this book, gave in and acquiesced in a letter, the first paragraph of which was copied word-for-word from Bradley’s.

Conclusion

On January 15, 1947, the Marine Corps appointed investigating board found that the figure at the base of the flagpole in the photograph had been “incorrectly identified since April 8, 1945, as being Sergeant Henry O. Hansen.” Furthermore, they stated that “to the best of the ability of the Board to determine at this time, the above-mentioned figure is that of Corporal Harlan [sic] H. Block.”

Albee and Freeman conclude that it is ultimately impossible to tell, based only on the photographic evidence, who is at the base of the flagpole.

References

USMC Statement on Marine Corps Flag Raisers, Office of U.S. Marine Corps Communication, 23 June 2016

Shadow of Suribachi: Raising The Flags on Iwo Jima. Parker Bishop Albee, Jr. and Keller Cushing Freman. 1995. Praeger Publishers.

Survivors of Iwo Jima flag raising at unveiling of statue in New York, May 11, 1945. Joe Rosenthal’s iconic photograph made them celebrities at the War Bond rallies. L-R Rene Gagnon, John H. Bradley, and Ira H. Hayes. 

Hayes, Bradley and Gagnon with the flag, New York, May 11, 1945. 

Bradley in the White House stands next to a War Bond drive poster depicting the flag raising, May 11, 1945. 

Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes points himself out in the historic picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. 

From left, Marine Private First Class Rene Gagnon, Pharmacist's Mate Second Class John H. Bradley, and Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes stand together as they look at a War Loan poster, which features an illustration of their likeness based on Joe Rosenthal's photograph of them and their comrades as they raise an American flag on Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi. 

From left, Marine Private Ira Hayes, Pharmacist Mate 2nd Class John H Bradley, US Secretary of the Navy James V Forrestal, and Marine Private Rene Gagnon, hoist a flag at the US Capitol. The Marines had been present at the historic Iwo Jima flag-raising on Iwo Jima. Here, they hoist that same flag in May 1945. 

John H. Bradley, left, Ira Hayes, middle and Rene Gagnon, right, are pictured at a memorial service after the war. Bradley and Gagnon were both thought to have been in the historical Iwo Jima photograph, but that has now proven to be false.

It appears that it was Corporal Harold 'Pie' Keller who was among the six men featured in the iconic photo, although he never mentioned it to his children. 

Marine Lt. Col. E.R. Hagenah, right, presents a bronze statue modeled after Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s picture of Marines raising the American Flag on Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima to Pres. Harry Truman, left, at the White House, June 4, 1945, Washington, D.C. Rosenthal is third from right and Felix de Weldon, sculpture of the statue, is at second from left. 

Pima Indian survivor of the Mt. Suribachi Flag-raising and Indian veteran of Bataan Death March with Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron Published caption: HEROES: Ira Hayes, left, a Pima Indian survivor of the Mt. Suribachi Flag-raising, and Sgt. Henry Reed, Indian veteran of Bataan Death March, call on Mayor Bowron. They are here on a trip to protest court rulings discriminating against their race in housing. 23 March 1947. 

Poster for the Seventh War Loan Drive (May 14–June 30, 1945). 

Seventh War Loan poster. 

The statue was nine years in the making. It was modeled after the photograph snapped by Joe Rosenthal, then with the Associated Press, on the morning of February 23, 1945. Rosenthal was in the Pacific on assignment with the wartime picture pool. Almost immediately upon release of the picture which soon won world-wide fame, Feliz De Welden, an internationally known sculptor on duty with the Navy, constructed a scale model of the scene. A life-sized plaster model followed. Heroic sized heads of the six Marines who participated in the flag-raising were then modeled in clay, over steel framework. Legs, arms, hands and shoes, in plaster, were added. The completed plaster model of the entire group in heroic size was cut into 108 pieces, then cast in bronze and welded together at the Bedi-Rassy Art Foundry in Brooklyn. Three trucks were needed to haul the statue to Washington for final assembling. Various stages in the making of the giant memorial are pictured on October 9, 1954. 

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting.

Felix W. DeWeldon, sculptor of the famous Marine Corps Memorial is shown putting finishing touches on the plaster model, prior to its being cut into sections for bronze casting. 

Assembly work started September 13, 1954 on the huge Iwo Jima monument, depicting the raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi, on a Virginia bluff overlooking the Potomac River across from the nation’s Capital. The heavy bronze statue, based on the celebrated photograph by the AP’s Joe Rosenthal, will stand on a bluff near Arlington National Cemetery. 

The Marine Band parades past the Marine Corps War Memorial – a study in bronze of the Iwo Jima Flag raising on during a memorial to Marine dead in connection with a reunion of Veterans of four Marine divisions. The Marine Corps War Memorial is seen in Arlington, Virginia. Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer who won a Pulitzer Prize for his immortal image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over battle-scarred Iwo Jima. Rosenthal’s iconic photo, shot on February 23, 1945, became the model for the Iwo Jima Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. 

Mothers of two Marines who lost their lives after helping to raise the flag on Mt. Suribachi pose with three survivors and Vice President Nixon in front of the Iwo Jima monument, November 10, 1954 at the dedication ceremony in Washington. From left to right: John H. Bradley of Wisconsin; Goldie Price of Kentucky, mother of the late Pfc. Franklin R. Sousley; Nixon; Belle Block of Texas, mother of the late Cpl. Harlon H. Block; Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon of New Hampshire; and Pfc. Ira Hayes of Arizona. 

United States Marine Corps War Memorial by Felix de Weldon at night in Arlington, Virginia. 

Rene Gagnon comforts Nancy Hayes after the burial of her son Ira, one of the Iwo Jima flag-raisers, in Arlington National Cemetery, February 2, 1955. Gagnon and Hayes were among six Marines who raised the flag atop Mt. Suribachi in 1945. Hayes, a Pima Indian, died of exposure last week on the reservation where he lived in Arizona. 

Rene Gagnon hands a stone from Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima to widow of Japanese Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, in Tokyo, Japan, February 25, 1965. Lt. Gen. Kuribayashi committed suicide on the Island after the Japanese were defeated at Iwo Jima. At the time, Gagnon was believed to be one of six U.S. Marines in flag-raising picture on the Pacific Island. From left at presentation in Tokyo are: Taro Kuribayashi, the general's son; a marine interpreter; Mrs. Yoshii Kuribayashi, Gagnon; his wife, and Rene Gagnon, Jr. 

Iwo Jima 20th Anniversary Ceremonies, 1965. 

General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps and General Holland M. Smith at the 20th Anniversary ceremonies for the battle of Iwo Jima in 1965. 

General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps and General Holland M. Smith at the 20th Anniversary ceremonies for the battle of Iwo Jima in 1965. 

Iwo Jima 20th Anniversary Ceremonies. Marine Corps wreath layers bow their heads during prayer at ceremonies commemorating the 20th anniversary of the landing at Iwo Jima in World War II. Left to right: General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps; General Holland M. Smith, USMC (Retired); Colonel Robert B. Carney; and the Lieutenant General Officer, Marine Barracks, 8th and Eye Streets, S.E. 

Iwo Jima 20th Anniversary Ceremony, 1965. General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps; General Holland M. Smith; Colonel Robert B. Carney; and the Lieutenant General Officer, Marine Barracks, 8th and Eye Streets, S.E. 

Iwo Jima 20th Anniversary Ceremony, 1965. General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps and General Holland M. Smith. 

Iwo Jima 20th Anniversary Ceremony. Marine Commandant, General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., General Holland M. Smith, USMC (Retired) and Colonel Robert B. Carney, Jr., receive the review during ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the landing in World War II. 

Holland Smith and a Priest at Marine Corps Memorial, Arlington, Virginia, n.d. 

Rene Gagnon, Holland Smith, Graves Erskine, and Constance Erskine, Cape Coral, Florida, circa 1960s. 

Starting third from left: Rene Gagnon, Holland Smith, Graves Erskine, Cape Coral, Florida, circa 1960s.