Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an iconic photograph of six United States Marines hoisting the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the later stages of the Pacific War. The photograph, taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, was first published in the Sunday papers two days later and reprinted in thousands of publications. It was the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography the same year it was published, and was then used for the construction of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, which was dedicated to honoring all Marines who have fallen in service since. 1775. The memorial, sculpted by Felix de Weldon, is located in Arlington Ridge Park, [1] near the Ord-Weitzel gate of Arlington National Cemetery and the Dutch carillon. Photography is now regarded in the United States as one of the most significant and recognizable images of World War II.

The flag raising took place in the early afternoon after capturing the top of the mountain and a smaller flag was hoisted at the top that morning. Three of the six Marines pictured - Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block, and Private First Class Franklin Sousley - were killed in action during the battle; Block was identified as Sergeant Hank Hansen until January 1947 and Sousley was identified as PhM2c. John Bradley, USN, until June 2016. [2] The other three Marines pictured were Corporals (then Privates First Class) Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz and Harold Keller; Schultz was identified as Sousley until June 2016 [2] and Keller was identified as René Gagnon until October 2019. [3] All men served in the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima.