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After coming ashore in Iwo Jima, Rosenthal and others learned an American flag had made it to Mount Suribachi, a volcanic cone at the southwestern tip of the island and a key objective of the Marines. Unfortunately, another photographer had already captured that image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted a flag going up on Iwo, and I want it badly,\u201d Rosenthal later recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he learned that a second, much larger flag was on its way to the site, he began mentally composing what would become his iconic photo: Where would the men be? Where would the flag be? How tall would it be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He built a platform of stones and sandbags to stand on, adjusted his shutter timing and tuned his aperture. It was about noon, with the sun directly overhead and a strong wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI see what had to be gone through before those Marines, with that flag, or with any flag, got up to the top of that mountain and secured the highest point, the most important point, perhaps, in the entire battle, the most important ground to be taken by those Marines,\u201d Rosenthal said in a 1997 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AP photo editor Jack Bodkin was the first to see Rosenthal\u2019s picture of six Marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere\u2019s one for all time,\u201d he declared as he sent the image by Navy radio to San Francisco. The image moved on Feb. 24 and appeared in newspapers on Sunday morning, 17\u00bd hours after it was taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The accolades poured in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the most significant photo of all time because of what it did. I think there\u2019s more beautiful photos, I think there\u2019s more dramatic photos,\u201d said Graves, a commercial photographer. \u201cYou can\u2019t glance at it and not be moved by it. Someone at the time said it captures the soul of a nation. And I think it still does today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graves\u2019 group is expected to submit its petition to the Navy on Monday, which would have been Rosenthal\u2019s 106th birthday. Graves knows it\u2019s a longshot, but he and his group figured it was worth a try after the previous Navy secretary opened the door to naming ships for non-military people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legacy would be fitting, said Anne Rosenthal, the photographer\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are awards and there are plaques and there are speeches, but this whole idea of the ship is so appealing, because a ship is like a living thing. It has people who spend their lives on it, or parts of their lives on it,\u201d Anne Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her father wanted to contribute to the war and took his responsibilities seriously. And she said he was not a person who thought much about his own safety and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was good at his craft before he went to war,\u201d his daughter said. \u201cHe wanted to tell the story. And he had very good timing … so in a certain way, he was well-skilled to capture the moment and he came through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though his preference was to stay on and cover the next battles in the Pacific, Rosenthal was sent back to the United States to receive his Pulitzer and other commendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A tour followed for the Seventh War Loan Drive, a six-week effort that yielded a record $26 billion in sales of Treasury Department bonds. Posters featuring the Iwo Jima photo were sold for the effort. The image also appeared on U.S. stamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosenthal\u2019s photo was so good that some believed it had been posed. Time and Life apologized to Rosenthal and the AP for its claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I had posed it, I would have ruined it. I would have fewer Marines in the picture and I would make sure that their faces were seen, and I would have their identifications so that their hometown papers would have the information,\u201d Rosenthal said later. \u201cI wish I could pose a picture that good, but I know that I never could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The iconic image of six Marines raising an American flag over Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945, is recognized around the world, credited with boosting morale at a critical moment of World War II, and generating record fundraising for war relief at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1846],"class_list":["post-15101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"KBAUQAN4CNEKJC3H4CDLIVX3PI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2017\/10\/09\/group-seeks-to-name-navy-ship-for-iwo-jima-photographer\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP17272849281901.jpg.jpg\")
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