The battle, the picture, and the statue

The photograph is familiar to almost all Americans, and in Washington D.C. the large statue duplicating the event in the photo is breathtaking. The photograph was taken on Iwo Jima during the battle for the island in World War II.

After 72 days of air attacks against the fortified Japanese island stronghold of Iwo Jima, the largest assembled naval force in the World War II Pacific Campaign began the assault on the small lava, rock, and ash-covered island on Feb. 19, 1945. Iwo Jima was peppered with bunkers and tunnels holding heavy weapons and 20,000 Japanese troops. The U.S. Marines fought against this Japanese force foot by foot from the water's edge to this 8-square-mile island's interior.

The highest point on the island is Mount Suribachi, and it contained a maze of tunnels which allowed the unseen Japanese to move via protected routes. Capturing the mountain would not end the battle, but it was an encouraging morale-building moment memorialized by the famous photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal. The photo of Marines raising the U.S. flag on the mountain peak was actually not the first flag-raising. The first Marines to reach the peak had a smaller flag they raised. The photo shows the much larger flag replacing the small one. The large flag was visible from across the island and raising the flag has become an iconic symbol of the U.S. Marines. The battle was concluded and won on March 26, 1945.

There were 27 Medals of Honor awarded to personnel who were in the battle for Iwo Jima, and 22 of these were U.S. Marines. The remaining five were Navy recipients and four were Corpsmen (Medics) with the Marines.

The 70,000 U.S. forces attacking lost 6,812 who were killed, two who were captured, and 19,217 who were wounded. The Japanese force of 22,060 troops suffered 21,844 killed and 216 captured.

The statue of the flag-raising became the national U.S. Marine Memorial when President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the memorial in a ceremony on Nov. 10, 1954.

Thirty-two-foot-high figures are shown raising a 60-foot bronze flagpole. The flag at the top of the pole flies at full mast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by presidential proclamation.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.