Joe Rosenthals famous

photo was one of

dozens taken atop
Mount Suribachi on
February 23, 1945.
Historians recently
used clues in those
images to correct
the identities of the
two flag raisers.
HAROLD H. SCHULTZ

FRANKLIN SOUSLEY

Corpsman John H.
Bradley (above) was
thought to be in the
iconic image. But in
other photos taken
around that time, his
gear and clothing,
including tightly
cuffed trousers, are
distinctly different
from those worn by
the figure now known
to be Franklin Sousley.

MARINES CONFIRM
MISTAKEN
IDENTITIES IN
ICONIC 1945 PHOTO
10

WORLD WAR II

Sousley (above,
moments after raising
the flag) had been
named as one of the
other flag raisers.
However, his uncuffed
trousers, cartridge
belt, empty canteen
carrier, wire cutter
pouch, and the soft
cap under his helmet,
all match gear worn
by the figure earlier
identified as Bradley.

LEFT AND BOTTOM RIGHT: ASSOCIATED PRESS; TOP RIGHT: USMC/LOUIS LOWERY

W W I I T O DAY R E PORTE D A N D W R I TTE N BY PAU L W I S E M A N

TOP LEFT: USMC/BOB CAMPBELL; TOP RIGHT: THE SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL; BOTTOM RIGHT: COURTESY OF
THE MUSEUM OF WORLD WAR II, BOSTON AND SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES

Key clues to the

identity of the newly
named flag raiser,
Harold H. Schultz
(below), are his
broken helmet liner
strapseen at left and
in film footage shot
that dayand an
improvised sling that
caused his M1 rifle
to hang low on his
shoulder in the
famous photo.

THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS has conrmed a 2014 claim that it misidentied two of the
six men photographed raising the American ag on
Iwo Jima. The photo, which captured the second of
two ag raisings atop Mount Suribachi on February
23, 1945, went on to become one of the most widely
reproduced images of the war.
For decades, the men in Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthals Pulitzer Prize-winning
picture were thought to be ve Marines and a U.S.
Navy corpsman. In 2014, however, amateur historians Stephen Foley and Eric Krelle raised doubts
about the mens identities. After a three-month examination of photographs taken that day, a Marine
Corps panel conrmed in June that the man identied as Corpsman John H. Bradley is in fact Marine
Private First Class Franklin Sousley, and the gure
earlier thought to be Sousley is someone not previously associated with the photo: Private First Class
Harold H. Schultz of Michigan.
Schultz survived the battle, but was wounded
and sent back to the United States. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, moved to
the Los Angeles area, and worked for the Postal
Service. He married for the rst time in his 60s,
never spoke publicly about Iwo Jima or the ag
raising, and died in 1995.
The photograph had already been the subject of

controversy. After snapping the photo, Rosenthal

did not get the names of the ag raisers. When the
Marine Corps eventually named them, they misidentied the Marine at the base of the agpole. It
was not until January 1947 that an investigatory
board conrmed the mistake. Additionally, when
someone asked Rosenthal if the photo was staged,
he mistakenly thought they were inquiring about a
different picture and answered to the affirmative
giving rise to rumors persisting for years afterward
that he had posed the photo.
John Bradleys son, James, who wrote the bestselling Flags of Our Fatherslater adapted into a
lm directed by Clint Eastwoodhas since said
that after viewing the new analysis, he no longer
believes his father is in the famous photograph.
Although the Rosenthal image is iconic and signicant, its not about the individuals and never has
been, wrote Marine Corps Commandant General
Robert Neller in a statement. Our ghting spirit
is captured in that frame, and it remains a symbol
of the tremendous accomplishments of our corps.
What they did together and what they represent
remains most important. That doesnt change.
More than 6,500 American servicemen died on
Iwo Jima, including three of the six men in Rosenthals photograph. The Japanese stronghold fell on
March 26, 1945, after over a month of ghting.

D I S PAT C H E S
An Italian diver may
have located the wreck
of a British submarine,
HMS P311, lost off the
Sardinian coast on
December 31, 1942.
The sub, which likely
struck an Italian mine,
sank with 71 men
aboard. Massimo
Domenico Bondone
told an Italian
newspaper that he
found the wreck 260
feet below the surface
and identified it by the
Chariot manned
torpedoes attached to
its sides. The Royal
Navy is investigating
the claim.
The Museum of World
War II, Boston, which
displays over 7,500
World War II artifacts,
announced it
acquired at auction
Anne Franks copy of
the book Grimms
Fairy Tales. The 1925
editions title page is
signed by Anne Frank
and her sister Margot
and is accompanied
by a 1977 letter from
their father, Otto. The
book is the first Anne
Frank item to be
auctioned in over two
decades and will
become a centerpiece
of the Museums
extensive collection.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

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