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| The Famous Iwo Jima Flag Photo Had Another Misidentified Man, Marines Say | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| It’s among the best-known photographs in American military history: six United States Marines raising an American flag over the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II. | It’s among the best-known photographs in American military history: six United States Marines raising an American flag over the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II. |
| But for the second time in more than three years, the Marine Corps said that one of the men in the picture had been misidentified for decades. | But for the second time in more than three years, the Marine Corps said that one of the men in the picture had been misidentified for decades. |
| The Marine Corps said the man, mostly obscured behind the Marine who is second from the right, is not Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, as had been previously thought. Rather, it is Cpl. Harold P. Keller, according to the Marine Corps. | |
| The corps had formed a board to review the possibility after private historians presented new evidence, the corps said in a statement Wednesday. | |
| “The identities of the flag raisers is something the Marine Corps has always been obligated to confirm, and the board findings do so,” Gen. David H. Berger of the Marine Corps wrote in a letter to Corporal Keller’s daughter last week. | |
| The finding was reported Wednesday evening by NBC News. | |
| Days after the photograph was captured on Feb. 23, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest in World War II, it appeared on the front pages of major national newspapers. The scene has been engraved on stamps and memorialized in a sculpture near Arlington National Cemetery, which depicts six 32-foot-tall figures in the same positions as the men in the photograph. | Days after the photograph was captured on Feb. 23, 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest in World War II, it appeared on the front pages of major national newspapers. The scene has been engraved on stamps and memorialized in a sculpture near Arlington National Cemetery, which depicts six 32-foot-tall figures in the same positions as the men in the photograph. |
| Joe Rosenthal of The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for the picture. | Joe Rosenthal of The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for the picture. |
| But the image has also generated scrutiny, including from those who have questioned whether the scene was staged. Mr. Rosenthal defended the photograph’s authenticity until his death in 2006. The Marines have fended off similar accusations. | But the image has also generated scrutiny, including from those who have questioned whether the scene was staged. Mr. Rosenthal defended the photograph’s authenticity until his death in 2006. The Marines have fended off similar accusations. |
| In June 2016, the corps said that it had wrongly identified one of the men in the picture following an internal investigation that was opened in response to questions raised by producers working on the documentary “The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima.” | In June 2016, the corps said that it had wrongly identified one of the men in the picture following an internal investigation that was opened in response to questions raised by producers working on the documentary “The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima.” |
| The corps found in 2016 that a private first class, Harold Schultz, was one of the six men in the photograph. It also determined that a Navy hospital corpsman, John Bradley, whose son wrote a best-selling book about his father’s role in the flag-raising that was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood, was not in the image. | The corps found in 2016 that a private first class, Harold Schultz, was one of the six men in the photograph. It also determined that a Navy hospital corpsman, John Bradley, whose son wrote a best-selling book about his father’s role in the flag-raising that was made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood, was not in the image. |
| The corps began investigating the photograph again in July 2018 after three researchers — Stephen Foley, Dustin Spence and Brent Westemeyer — unearthed new photographs and film footage of the scene atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. | |
| Photographs showed the patterns of Corporal Keller’s fatigues matching those of one of the flag raisers. It also showed that he, like the man raising the flag, was holding a cigarette, Mr. Spence said. | Photographs showed the patterns of Corporal Keller’s fatigues matching those of one of the flag raisers. It also showed that he, like the man raising the flag, was holding a cigarette, Mr. Spence said. |
| “It’s like a court case,” Mr. Spence said. “You’re putting together evidence. If I was a prosecutor, a lawyer, that’s what I’m presenting. That’s our case.” | “It’s like a court case,” Mr. Spence said. “You’re putting together evidence. If I was a prosecutor, a lawyer, that’s what I’m presenting. That’s our case.” |
| The corps said Private Gagnon brought the flag to the top of Mount Suribachi — the second flag raised there that day. He also secured the first flag “for safe keeping,” the corps said. | |
| “Everyone on the island during this historic battle contributed, whether in this photo or not,” the corps said in the statement. “They are all heroes. As an institution, we have a duty to truth and accuracy. Accuracy is crucial in this case. This is an example of the important role historians, media, and eyewitness accounts play in telling the stories of heroic actions our service members play in defense of our nation.” | |
| Kay Maurer, Corporal Keller’s daughter, who lives in Clarence, Iowa, said in an interview on Wednesday night that the corps told her last year that they were looking into the possibility that her father, who died in 1979, was in the picture. The corps told her they had used facial recognition technology and had enlisted the Army’s help to verify the researchers’ findings. | Kay Maurer, Corporal Keller’s daughter, who lives in Clarence, Iowa, said in an interview on Wednesday night that the corps told her last year that they were looking into the possibility that her father, who died in 1979, was in the picture. The corps told her they had used facial recognition technology and had enlisted the Army’s help to verify the researchers’ findings. |
| Last month, the corps called again with the news that her father was, in fact, in the photograph, Ms. Maurer said. She said that her father rarely discussed the war, probably because many of his friends died or were injured in it. | Last month, the corps called again with the news that her father was, in fact, in the photograph, Ms. Maurer said. She said that her father rarely discussed the war, probably because many of his friends died or were injured in it. |
| She said she felt proud to learn that her father had raised the flag, but also “heartbreak that he didn’t feel he could share that with us.” | She said she felt proud to learn that her father had raised the flag, but also “heartbreak that he didn’t feel he could share that with us.” |
| She said, “I think he lost so many buddies, that I think he just didn’t want to bring any glory into a conversation about that flag.” | She said, “I think he lost so many buddies, that I think he just didn’t want to bring any glory into a conversation about that flag.” |