On February 23, 1945, this picture was taken of six marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which has become one of the most iconic photographs of the Pacific theater. The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles fought in the late stages of the Pacific War. 

Marines Raising The American Flag On Iwo Jima 

Sgt. Howard Snyder (left) and Cpl. Harold Keller (right) on Mt Suribachi, February 23, 1945. 
  It would be discovered years later that Keller was in the photo of the second flag raising. Howard Snyder was killed later in the battle for Iwo Jima.

Flagraising heroes

Journalist Ernie Pyle (third from left) trudges along with First Division Marines on a patrol in the interior of Okinawa; 8 April 1945. 
   Ten days later, the noted writer was killed by Japanese machine gun fire on the island of Ie Shima.

With his Marines

A U.S. Marine sniper with a Springfield 1903A1 and Unertl 8-power scope

Enemy in cross-fire

Moments before the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima, in Feb. 1945.

Soon will fly on top

US Marines wait for the signal to attack the Japanese airfield; Island of Peleliu, South Pacific Ocean, 16 September, 1944.

Battle of Peleliu

Rosie, thought to be the first Japanese war dog captured in the Pacific, sits with her new owner Capt. Stanley W. Robinson after being picked up during the Battle of Saipan. She carries a message pouch in her collar; 12 July 1944.

P.O.W. War Dog

US Marines move off the beach on the first day of the battle; 1 April, 1945.

Battle of Okinawa, Japan

The famous Actor,Tyrone Power served in the USMC during WWII

Tyrone Power

A cigarette smoking smiling 7th Regiment US Marine in a secure combat position in Okinawa; May 1945.

On guard in the lull of combat

U.S. Marines are preparing to move out of a shell crater and advance towards Japanese positions, on the island of Saipan, Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean; June 1944.

Marines only go forward

1st Marine Division assault a ridge supported by bazookas. The action took place two miles north of Naha, Okinawa; 1945..

Bazooka will help to do the job.

3rd Marine Division Member on Guam in 1945.

Marine Sniper

US Marines transfer a wounded man to a stretcher during the battle for Peleliu, Palau Island, South Pacific; September 1944.

Wounded but alive

A US Marine armed with a BAR (Brownie Automatic Rifle) inspects a Japanese foxhole during the Battle of Guam; 1944. 

Search for hidden sniper

American soldiers at the flag of Stars and Stripes on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan: 
16 Marines and two Navy medics (center). Behind on the right, on the coast, the American landing ships from which the invasion of the island was carried out are visible.
The names of the servicemen depicted:
1) sits on the leftmost side of the group, private first class Ira Hamilton Hayes (1923-1955);
2) behind him is Jack Thurman, at the time of the battle he was 19 years old, he served as a sniper;
3) First Lieutenant Harold George Schrier (1916-1971), he, along with Thurman, was a participant in the raising of the flag (first and second) over Suribachi;
4) Franklin R. Sousley;
5) Sergeant Michael Strank, died on March 1, 1945 here, on Iwo Jima, from a shell explosion from an American ship;
6) John H. Bradley;
7) Clarence H. Garrett;
8) Graydon W. Dyce;
9) Howard M. Snyder;
10) Henry O. Hansen;
11) Corporal Harlon Henry Block, he stands behind Hansen and only part of his head is visible. Member of the 2nd flag-raising on Suribachi, died on March 1, 1945 from a Japanese shell explosion;
12) Philip L. Ward
13) Fred J. Walzak
14) private first class Harold Henry Schultz (1925-1995), 
      also a participant in the raising of the flag over 
      Suribachi;
15) Harold P. Keller;
16) Thomas J Hekmanek, Jr.;
17) Raymond H. Larsen
18) John T. Schmitt

Total group of flagraisers

Marines carry back from the battlefield a wounded comrade on a stretcher; Saipan, Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean, June 1944.

One of the wounded

Three U.S. Marines point Springfields .303 bolt action rifles toward enemy territory from a sand-bagged foxhole on the front lines on Guadalcanal on Oct. 14, 1942. 
   Not all Marine units were equipped with M-1 Garand rifles until the campaign was almost over.

One is bolt action, the other semi-automatic

US Marines advance through a burning village on Japanese-held Saipan, Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean; June-July 1944.

Scene of action

1st Division US Marines are resting at the stacked pyramids of M1903 Springfield rifles on the coast of Guadalcanal Island against the backdrop of US Navy ships; Solomon Islands, August 1942.



Need some rest from heavy fighting

Two American Marines survey the view from atop Mount Suribachi two days after the famous flag-raising took place in February 1945. 

All quiet down below now

A Japanese soldier surrendering to three US Marines in Kwajalein, one of the Marshall Islands; January 1944.

No way out but give up

Marines resting on Guadalcanal. They have a Big Job to Accomplish and They Do It!

Marines on Guadalcanal

US Marines with sniffer dogs on Iwo Jima. The soldier in the foreground is armed with an Ithaca 37 pump-action shotgun; February 1945.

Dogs to sniff out enemy

U.S. Marines preparatory to embarkation for New Britain. Note, LST-18 in the background; January, 1944. 

US Marines

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