Joe Rosenthal and the Flag-raising on Iwo Jima
Joseph John Rosenthal was born on October 9, 1911 in Washington, D.C. to Russian Jewish immigrants. During the Great Depression Joe took up photography as a hobby while living with his brother in San Francisco, California, but soon became a reporter/photographer for the San Francisco News. Unable to enlist in the Army because of poor vision, he joined the Associated Press and became an embedded journalist involved in Marine Corps campaigns in the Pacific during World War II. Battle of Iwo Jima: On February 23, 1945, the fifth day of a 36 day battle that would eventually leave 6,621 Americans dead, Joe had heard that an American flag was being raised on Mount Suribachi, so he hurried to reach the top of the small volcano in hopes of capturing a still shot of the fl scholarships for single moms ag-raising. Along the way, he had heard that the flag had already been raised but he continued his climb anyway so that he could photograph the flag flying. After reaching the top of the summit, he noticed a group of Marines preparing to raise a larger flag by attaching it to a long pipe, so he decided that he would concentrate on taking the photo of a second flag-raising. After adjusting his camera’s lens setting and its speed to 1/400th second he quickly noticed that the Marines had started raising the flag so he was forced to swing around rather quickly to take the shot but was able to push the shutter just in time. This much needed photo soon became a symbol for victory back in the United States and was published around the world as early as February 25, 1945.