On 19 February, 1945, the United States launched the invasion of the fortified volcanic Island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean. It was a vicious, take no prisoners struggle, that was to last until 26 March. By the time of its conclusion 6,821 Americans lay dead and a further 19,217 had been wounded. Of the 20,000 or so Japanese involved only 216 survived the battle. But it was also to produce the most famous photograph of World War Two and one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century.

The Flag is Raised

The Island of Iwo Jima was dominated by Mount Suribachi; from its peak the Japanese could observe all movement on the Island and offshore. It was a vital early target for U.S forces. By the morning of 23 February it had been taken and a flag raised to wild cheers from the troops below and the bellowing of horns from the ships out at sea. It was then decided that the flag that had been used was too small and that a new and larger one should be raised. It is this second flag raising that is the one that was to form the famous photograph. It was snapped with minimal preparation according to the photographer, Joe Rosenthal. But so perfect and iconic an image is it that there has always been the rumour that it was a staged affair. Rosenthal himself said, “Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera around and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken.”

Of the 6 men seen in the picture, 5 were U.S Marines, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, Franklin Sousley, Michael Strank, Harlan Block, and one U.S Corpsman John Bradley. Of these Sousley, Strank and Block would all be killed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the photograph had been circulated around the world and had caused a sensation. It was to win for Rosenthal the Pulitzer Prize for 1945. The surviving members of the flag raising were hailed as heros and returned to America to be decorated, feted, and to help with the 7th War Bond Drive.

Upon their return, Gagnon misidentified Hank Hansen as one of the flag raisers instead of Harlan Block. Hansen had in fact been one of the raisers of the first flag and had also been killed later in the battle. Gagnon had only arrived late on the scene and couldn’t be absolutely sure who was present. This upset Ira Hayes greatly and he reported the mistake to the military authorities but was ordered to remain silent as the names had already been released. Gagnon and Hayes were very different men and Hayes disliked Gagnon intensely.

Ira Hayes

As far as America was concerned the three surviving members of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi were heros. Though the men concerned did not necessarily see it this way. Ira Hayes, in particular, did not enjoy all the adulation. Still, they were sent on a whirlwind tour of the United States where they raised a record amount of money for the War Bond Drive. They made speeches, and public appearances, waving to the crowds, shaking hands, kissing babies, and most embarrassing of all having to restage the flag raising in Baseball Stadiums. As time went on and more and more of their comrades continued to die in the vicious Pacific War the adulation became increasingly difficult to bear. Just over a year after his return, Ira Hayes, who was still distraught that Harlan Block had not received the recognition he deserved walked and hitch-hiked the 1300 miles from his home in Arizona to the Block family farm in Texas to tell his father the truth. Once he had done so, he simply turned around and returned home.

Ira Hayes, was a Pima Indian who lived on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona.  He was proud of his service as a U.S Marine but could never understand all the fuss that was made about the raising of the flag. He had just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He had been told by his tribal elder when he enlisted to be a noble warrior, and this was all he wanted to be. He couldn’t abide the adulation when he had done nothing to deserve it, and the cheers rang hollow when he should have been fighting alongside his comrades. By 1949, Hayes was a hopeless alcoholic and was arrested time and time again for drunkeness. Once, when asked about his addiction to alcohol, he replied, “I was sick I guess. I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they’re not coming back. Much less, back to the White House, like me.” In 1954, he reluctantly attended a ceremony marking the raising of the flag where he met President Eisenhower. He hated every moment of it and couldn’t wait to get away. A few months later in January, 1955, he was found lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit, he had died of exposure. He was aged just 32.

Rene Gagnon

Rene Gagnon, was a very different man to both Ira Hayes and John Bradley. He was an extrovert who had only joined the flag raising at the very last moment. Even so, he was determined to make the most of his good fortune. He enjoyed the limelight and the cheers of the crowd and took to his new-found celebrity status like a duck to water. He looked to cash-in while he could. Any number of job offers came in but he couldn’t accept them for he was still a serving soldier, and finding girls to sleep with was no problem at all. Despite all his best endeavours, however, he made very little money. As the immediate post-war years passed he became a forgotten man. All the promises of job offers made at the height of his fame were renaged upon, and he ended up working in a series of menial jobs most of which he was fired from. He was working as a janitor at the time of his death on 12 October, 1979, aged 54. He died a bitter and frustrated alcoholic who hated everything to do with the flag raising.

John Bradley

John Bradley, was a quiet and reserved man who maintained a level head throughout. He saw what he was doing as his duty and no more. Soon after the war he married his childhood sweetheart with whom he had 8 children. He later went on to become a successful businessman. He rarely spoke about about his wartime experiences maintaining a quiet dignity. It was likely though that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress. He frequently had nightmares and was haunted by the death of his friend Ralph Ignatowski, who was captured and tortured to death by the Japanese. He found it difficult to reconcile himself to the fact that he had not been there for his friend. In later life he declined all requests to talk about the raising of the flag. He once said that the real heros had been the ones who had died on Iwo Jima. He died of a heart attack on 11 January, 1994, aged 70. The last of the flag raisers in that most iconic of photographs to die.