I looked to see and didn't find a post of this. It's an older article that I just stumbled on, some great pics not just of the flag raising on Iwo but the rest of the battle and even some on the construction of the Marine Memorial in Washington DC.
Again, sorry if this is a repost but these photos are terrific.
Great shots; his abilities were eclipsed by the one photo. The odd one in there was the CPO holding the sculpture who's labeled as Rosenthal. Also the one with Pres. Truman where the Marine Colonel (sedond from left) looks like a regular sailor to me.
Photo number 18 I don't think is Rosenthal. He never served in the military and was rejected by the Army due to poor eyesight and had to wear glasses his whole life. Thank God he knew how to take great photos. About the only person I can think of who that might be is Robert L. Resnick. Resnick was a Coast Guardsman on board LST-758. This is from the Coast Guard Oral History website.
While on watch, Resnick was in charge of the bridge waiting for orders to debark, on the morning of February 23, 1945. Just after 11:15 a.m., a helmeted young Marine with dark sideburns came aboard LST-758. Resnick received the call from the bow and was told a Marine wished to get a flag to raise on the summit of the volcano.
“I said send him up!” said Resnick.
Renee Gagnon, now immortalized by Rosenthal’s image, was the Marine requesting the flag with just a hint of a New England accent in his voice. Resnick recalls climbing the 10-foot steel ladder to the signal bridge. Rummaging around in the wooden bunting box, he worked his way toward the bottom and felt a large flag, still folded. A signalman confronted Resnick.
“He wanted to know on whose authority I was giving the flag away,” Resnick said. Resnick climbed up to the flying bridge, his nose aligned with the heels of the ship’s commanding officer, LT Felix J. Molenda, as he got to the top rung. It was from there he presented his case. Preoccupied with reprimanding a junior officer, the skipper stammered out, “Uh, very well.”
Resnick scampered down the ladder to the signal bridge and then back down to the bridge, where he handed the Marine the flag. Gagnon then asked for a 20-30 foot pipe as a substitute. Gagnon headed down to the Tank Deck, where he was given a 21-foot galvanized steel steamfitter’s pipe. It weighed more than 150 pounds, Resnick said. Gagnon slung it over his left shoulder, tucked Resnick’s flag under his right arm, and headed up the volcano as Resnick stood on the deck watching history unfold.
Other than Resnick anyone have any idea who that man might be.
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Joe Rosenthal - photos from the Pacific
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