Description:

Set of Historic Signed Photographs of all three survivors of the Iwo Jima flag-raising immortalized in Joe Rosenthal's photograph, each holding the flag he helped raise atop Mount Suribachi

Rare Set of three photographs, each signed by the soldier depicted: "Ira H. Hayes / Pfc., U.S.M.C.," "John H. Bradley Ph.M 2/C," and "Pfc. R.A. Gagnon." Black & white, 8" x 10". Each soldier is pictured holding the flag he helped raise atop Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Slight rippling at upper and lower edges can be eliminated by framing. Fine condition.

On Feb. 23, 1945, atop Mt. Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, six American soldiers - five Marines and one Navy corpsman - planted the American flag. Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize in Photography "for his photograph of the Marines planting the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima." After President Franklin D. Roosevelt continued to see the AP photograph in newspapers across the country, he issued a Presidential Order: "Transfer immediately by air to Washington, D.C. the 6 men who appear in the Rosenthal photograph of flag raising at Mt. Suribachi." What he didn't know was that three of the soldiers had died at Iwo Jima: Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, and PFC Franklin Sousley.

On May 14, 1945, under the slogan "The Mighty Seventh," the 7th United States War Loan drive officially began. Ph. Mate 2/C John H. Bradley (1923-1994), PFC Rene A. Gagnon (1925-1979), and PFC Ira H. Hayes (1923-1955) toured the nation with the tattered American flag they helped raise on Mt. Suribachi three months earlier. The drive continued for seven weeks until June 30, 1945. On November 7, 1954, the three survivors of the flag raising met for the last time at the dedication of the 78-foot tall Marine Corps War Memorial based upon Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer prizewinning photograph.

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December 15, 2015 10:30 AM EST
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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