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| Positions of flag raisers with second flag raising on Iwo Jima, 23 February 1945. |
by Col. Mary H. Reinwald, USMC (Ret)
A simple click of a camera’s shutter, and a small moment in
Marine Corps history is preserved. Just one moment in the millions during the
incredible battle for the small island of Iwo Jima. Circumstances, however,
made this moment very different; the photograph took on a life of its own, and
its subjects were immortalized. The time, place and dire straits in which the
free world found itself contributed to the popularity of the photograph. The
country, after several years in a cataclysmic two front war, was desperate for
something positive. The photograph embodied so much for the American people.
The men in the picture, regardless of what else they had done on Iwo Jima or in
other battles throughout the Pacific, were viewed as heroes not just for
raising a flag, but for raising the spirits of a nation.
But what if the men weren’t who we thought they were? What
if a mistake, however inadvertent, was made?
On Nov. 23, 2014, the Omaha World-Herald published a story
entitled “New Mystery Arises From Iconic Iwo Jima Image.” The story detailed
the efforts of two history buffs, Stephen Foley and Eric Krelle, to prove that
Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class John H. Bradley, the corpsman who was awarded
the Navy Cross for his actions in the initial days of fighting during the
Battle of Iwo Jima, is not in Joe Rosenthal’s iconic photograph of the flag
raising on Feb. 23, 1945, as had been believed for almost 70 years. They
presented substantial evidence that a mistake may have been made, and other
media outlets began to express interest. The Marine Corps was notified of the
new evidence, and after an initial review, a decision was made to do a more
thorough analysis.
At the direction of the Commandant of the Marine Corps,
General Robert B. Neller, a panel was convened to “accurately identify and
appropriately credit” the flag raisers seen in the Rosenthal photo. On April
22, 2016, the panel, made up of both active-duty and retired Marines, as well
as civilian historians, assembled at the General Alfred M. Gray Marine Corps
Research Center at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., to review the newly
discovered evidence and existing photographs, eyewitness statements, and a film
shot during the flag raisings. The results of the board and its recommendations
were briefed to Gen Neller on May 4, 2016. Lieutenant General Jan C. Huly, USMC
(Ret), a former Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, served as
president of the panel.
Background
U.S. forces landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, and four
long days later, the commanding officer of 2d Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment,
Lieutenant Colonel Chandler W. Johnson, sent a patrol to secure Mount
Suribachi. Sergeant Henry O. Hansen and PhM2c John H. Bradley were part of the
patrol headed by First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, the executive officer of
Company E. Private First Class Harold H. Schultz also was a member of the
patrol. An American flag was raised that morning at approximately 1020. Staff
Sergeant Louis R. “Lou” Lowery, photographer for Leatherneck, captured the
first flag raising on film, and it is clear that PhM2c Bradley participated in
the first flag raising.
A few hours later, a resupply patrol, tasked with replacing
the first flag with a larger one, was sent to the top of Suribachi. Sgt Michael
Strank, Corporal Harlon H. Block, PFC Ira H. Hayes and PFC Franklin R. Sousley
were members of the resupply patrol; Joe Rosenthal, an Associated Press
photographer, joined them as they made their way up the mountain. Sgt William
H. Genaust and PFC Robert R. Campbell, Fifth Marine Division combat
correspondents, also accompanied the patrol.
The second flag was raised at approximately 1220 as the
first flag was lowered. Sgt Genaust filmed the preparation and raising of the
second flag, but there is a break of undetermined length in his film between
the flag raisers holding the flag in a horizontal position and later starting
to lift the flag. PFC Campbell photographed the first flag as it was lowered.
Joe Rosenthal photographed the second flag raising, and one of his shots became
the iconic photo.
The fighting on Iwo Jima took a huge toll on the Marines
involved in the second f lag raising. Both Cpl Block and Sgt Strank were killed
in action on March 1, as was Sgt Hansen. PhM2c Bradley was wounded on March 12
and evacuated the next day. PFC Sousley was killed on March 21.
When Rosenthal’s photograph was sent back to the States, the
sensation it created led to a decision to bring the flag raisers home to take
part in a war bond tour. PFC Rene A. Gagnon returned to the United States in
April 1945 and identified the flag raisers as Sgt Hansen, PhM2c Bradley, Sgt
Strank, PFC Sousley, PFC Hayes and himself. Bradley and Hayes also were brought
to Washington, D.C., that month, and they confirmed Gagnon’s identification of
the flag raisers.
In July 1946, however, in response to a letter from the
mother of PFC Harlon Block, Ira Hayes admitted that Block, not Hansen, was the
Marine in Position #1 in the Rosenthal photo. A board was convened at
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps in December 1946 with Major General Pedro A.
del Valle as the president tasked with determining the participants of the flag
raising, specifically the individual in Position #1, as depicted in the
Rosenthal photo.
The del Valle board released its findings in January 1947.
The opinion of the board was that Cpl Harlon H. Block (Position #1), PFC Rene
A. Gagnon (Position #2), PhM2c John H. Bradley (Position #3), Sgt Michael
Strank (Position #4), PFC Franklin R. Sousley (Position #5) and PFC Ira H.
Hayes (Position #6) raised the second flag on Mount Suribachi. The Commandant
of the Marine Corps, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, approved the board’s
results.
The
Huly Panel
The Huly panel reviewed the results of the del Valle board,
scrutinizing each individual in the Rosenthal photo, in keeping with the
Commandant’s direction. The results of the Huly panel, however, differed from
the results of the board from 70 years ago.
Position #1: Cpl Harlon Block
No new evidence or recent allegations contradicted Block
being the man in Position #1. A comparison of photos taken by Joe Rosenthal
throughout the actual flag raising with the film shot by Sgt Genaust shows the
person in Position #1 with equipment and a facial profile consistent with
Block. Coupled with Hayes’ identification of Block as a flag raiser in 1946 and
confirmation by the del Valle board, no evidence suggests that Block is not the
Marine in Position #1.
Position
#2: PFC Rene A. Gagnon
Similar to Block’s identification, no new evidence has
called into question Gagnon’s identification as the second flag raiser. Upon
his return to the States in 1945, Gagnon identified himself as the Marine in
Position #2; this identification was later corroborated by both Bradley and
Hayes. Although his face is obscured throughout most of the film and
photographs, a brief glimpse appears to be Gagnon, and the gear he wore in
other clearly identifiable photos is consistent with the gear worn by the
Marine in Position #2. As did the del Valle board, the Huly panel continues to
believe that Gagnon helped to raise the second flag.
Position #3: PhM2c John Bradley to PFC
Franklin Sousley
In addition to Gagnon’s initial identification of Bradley as
the individual in Position #3, Bradley himself confirmed this according to a
memo to the Director, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps dated Sept. 24, 1946, from LtCol E.R. Hagenah, USMC, written for the del
Valle board. In his own letter to Gen del Valle, dated Dec. 26, 1946, Bradley
stated, “I was on top of the hill already and when the flag was raised I just
jumped up and gave the group a hand.” In a letter to the same board dated 16
Dec. 1946, the Co E commander, Captain Dave Severance, also agreed that, to the
best of his knowledge, Bradley was one of the flag raisers. The photographic
evidence, however, does not support this.
As seen in both the Genaust film and other photographs taken
atop Mount Suribachi, the individual in Position #3 is wearing an empty canteen
cover, cartridge belt without suspenders, wire cutters, and a soft cover under
his helmet; he is not carrying a rifle nor wearing a field jacket.
Additionally, his trousers are not cuffed. The Suribachi photographs, including
Rosenthal’s famous “Gung Ho” photo, also show Bradley without an empty canteen
cover, wire cutters, or a soft cover under his helmet. The photos do show
Bradley wearing a field jacket, with two medical unit 3s, a first aid pack, a
K-bar, a full canteen cover and suspenders evident. Additionally, his trousers
are cuffed, and he is wearing leggings.
If Bradley is not in Position #3, then who is? Surprisingly,
determining the individual in Position #3 was relatively easy after closely
analyzing photographs for specific equipment and gear. PFC Sousley, originally
identified as the Marine in Position #5, is seen in photographs atop Suribachi
wearing an empty canteen cover, a cartridge belt without suspenders, wire
cutters, and a soft cover under his helmet. He is not seen wearing a field
jacket, and his trousers are not cuffed— his gear is identical to the gear worn
by the individual in Position #3. In addition, there is a moment in the Genaust
film and in a Rosenthal photo where the face of the individual is seen briefly.
The individual resembles Sousley. In the Huly panel’s opinion, Sousley was in Position
#3, not Position #5, in Rosenthal’s photo.
Position #4: Sgt Michael Strank
As was the case with Block and Gagnon, no new evidence was
discovered to call into question Strank’s participation in the second flag
raising. Although the del Valle board determined that the individual in
Position #4 was Sgt Strank, the Huly panel worked to confirm this since
Position #4 was the most obscured in both the photo and the film. But it was
both the film and the Rosenthal photos that once again helped to confirm what
was already known.
The Huly panel, after thorough review, ruled out the possibility
that the obscured individual in Position #4 could have been Bradley. The
individual in Position #4 is not wearing medical unit 3s or any of the other
gear that Bradley was. Before the break in the Genaust film, it appears #4 was
wearing a soft cover; after the break, however, the individual appears to be
wearing a hard cover. The clarity of the film is such that it is not absolute,
but one thing is certain based on other photographic evidence—Bradley only wore
a helmet. Strank, however, is seen wearing a soft cover beneath his helmet in
several photographs.
In addition, in the Genaust film, the ring finger on the
left hand of the individual in Position #4 is evident; the finger is bare.
Photos clearly identifiable as Strank show that he was not wearing a ring on
that finger. Bradley’s left hand, however, clearly shows a ring on his ring
finger in photos.
Position #5: PFC Franklin Sousley to PFC
Harold Schultz
But if Sousley is in Position #3, who’s in Position #5? The
equipment, or lack thereof, indicates that it can’t be Bradley. Again,
Genaust’s film and the photos taken by Lowery, Campbell and Rosenthal were
thoroughly reviewed and a key piece of evidence helped to greatly simplify the
identity—a broken helmet liner strap.
Only one Marine photographed on that fateful day on Mount
Suribachi had a broken helmet liner strap hanging from the left side of his
helmet, and that was PFC Harold H. Schultz, another member of Co E. And, as
importantly, the individual in Position #5 had a distinctive rifle. The sling
of #5’s rifle was attached to the stacking swivel—not to the upper hand guard
sling swivel as was appropriate. Again, photos show that the only Marine with
his sling attached in that manner was PFC Schultz.
However, and so very puzzling, no previous identification or
claim that PFC Schultz was a flag raiser has ever been found.
Position #6: PFC Hayes
The easiest of all to identify. In addition to Gagnon and
Bradley identifying Hayes from the beginning, Hayes himself admitted that he
was a flag raiser, and the photographic evidence strongly supports these
claims.
Questions
Remain
While the Huly panel’s results may be correct, further
forensic analysis is needed, and given today’s technology, entirely possible.
Gen Neller has directed that such analysis be conducted in the hopes that the
flag raisers’ identities can be confirmed with as much certainty as possible.
Regardless of the outcome, other questions remain. Why
weren’t the flag raisers identified clearly from the beginning? Why did John
Bradley, Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon identify Bradley as the individual in
Position #3? Why didn’t Hayes or even Bradley correct the record when the
Hansen-Block mistake came to light in 1946? Why did it take well into the 21st
century for someone to conduct a forensic analysis of the photo? Why did no one
notice the absence of a corpsman’s gear on anyone depicted in the photograph
and the memorial? And perhaps most puzzling, why did Schultz never say
anything?
Seventy years later, and with few survivors left who served
on Iwo Jima, the questions may never be completely answered, but there are some
plausible explanations as to why a mistake of this magnitude was made.
First, and perhaps most importantly, no one at the time
could have anticipated the impact of that one photo. Even Rosenthal initially
had no idea what he had captured.
In addition, to everyone present on Mount Suribachi that
day, the second flag raising was not necessarily memorable. When the first flag
was raised, shouts and celebrations were heard from the Marines on the beach as
ships in the surrounding waters sounded their horns. Little attention was paid
to the second flag as it went up. Even Lt Schrier, the patrol leader, wasn’t
looking. In his own words, “At the time the picture was taken, I was busy taking
down the original flag, and cannot definitely identify any member [of the
second flag raising].”
A third significant factor adding to the confusion
surrounding the identities is that the battle for the island of Iwo Jima raged
for weeks after the flag raising. The flag went up and the Marines continued
the fight. And the fight was a costly one; by the time Iwo Jima was secured,
5,931 Marines had been killed in action and another 17,372 were wounded. The
dead included four of the Marines identified as flag raisers (Strank, Sousley,
Block and Hansen). Bradley was among the seriously wounded; only Gagnon and
Hayes emerged from their time on Iwo Jima physically unscathed.
And there may have been another reason, one that creates a
disturbing picture of what happened when the surviving flag raisers returned to
Washington, D.C. From the letter Ira Hayes wrote to Harlon Block’s mother in
1946: “I tried my darnedest to stay overseas but couldn’t, all because they had
a man in there that really wasn’t, and beside [sic] that had Sousley and myself
switched around. And when I did arrive in Washington, D.C. I tried to set
things right but some colonel told me to not say another word as two men were
dead, meaning Harlon and Hansen. And besides the public knew who was who in the
picture at the time I didn’t want no last minute commotion.” After the initial
identification was made, right or wrong, were the remaining three under
pressure not to make waves?
Perhaps the biggest mystery of all, if it is PFC Harold
Schultz in Position #5 as the evidence indicates, why didn’t he ever say
anything? There is no record of any claims made or even any letters he may have
sent saying he was a flag raiser. From what little is known about him, Schultz
was a solitary man both in the Corps and in civilian life. He didn’t marry
until he was in his 60s and, even then, only briefly mentioned the flag raising
to his new family. After Schultz died, his stepdaughter found a copy of
Rosenthal’s “Gung Ho” photograph in his desk drawer. Schultz had written his
name and the names of other Marines on the back. He made no mention of the flag
raising.
Ironically, the significance of Rosenthal’s photo and the
Marine Corps War Memorial that it inspired is not who raised the flag, but
rather who and what they represented. While the desire to correct the
historical record is both understandable and necessary, that moment on top of
Mount Suribachi more than 70 years ago will still hold a special place in the
hearts of Marines and in the history of the Corps, regardless of who raised the
flag.
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| Cpl Harlon H. Block. |
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| PFC Rene A. Gagnon. On October 16, 2019, the Marine Corps announced publicly that Corporal Harold Keller was actually the flag raiser thought to have been Gagnon. |
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| Michael Strank, U.S. Marine Corps in 1939. |
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| Sousley in 1944. |
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| Marine Corps recruit photo of Hayes in 1942. |
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| Pfc. Ira H. Hayes, a Pima, at age 19, ready to jump, Marine Corps Paratroop School, Camp Gillespie, 1942. |
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| PFC Harold Schultz was not recognized as one of the six second flag raisers until the Marine Corps announced on June 23, 2016, that he was in the historic photograph which was taken by combat photographer Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press. The Marine Corps also stated that Schultz was incorrectly identified as Private First Class Franklin Sousley in the photograph who was incorrectly identified as Navy corpsman John Bradley, who is not in the photograph. Schultz is the second of three Marines in the photograph who were not originally identified as flag raisers. |
