Marines raise the flag on Iwo Jima

On 23 February 1945, U.S. Marines fought their way to the summit of Mount Suribachi, the volcanic peak at the southern tip of Iwo Jima, and ran up the American flag. That first banner was small. A few hours later, a larger flag went up in its place.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal happened on that second raising and caught it in a single frame: six Marines straining at the staff against an open sky. The image ran in Sunday papers within two days.

It went on to win the 1945 Pulitzer Prize and became one of the most reproduced photographs ever made.

The picture’s calm belied the cost. Fighting for the eight-square-mile island ground on into late March, killing more than 6,000 Americans and wounding some 17,000 — and several Marines in the photo did not survive the battle.