The Marine Corps has admitted it misidentified one of the flag raisers in one of history’s most iconic war photos.
The photo, which was taken by the Associated Press’s Joe Rosenthal during the battle on Iwo Jima in World War II, was used to boost morale in the U.S. and went “viral in the 1945 equivalent of the word,” according to Marine Corps historian Charles Neimeyer.
The image was recreated in the form of a statue at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va., and has since been reprinted thousands of times — yet it still took 71 years for historians to correctly identify the six flag-raisers.
On Thursday, an internal Marine Corps investigation revealed that Pfc. Harold Schultz, and not Navy Corpsman John Bradley, was one of the flag raisers. The investigation was launched in May after amateur historians Eric Krelle and Stephen Foley compared the shot to other photos taken the same day.
Schultz, who died in 1995, was never previously affiliated with the image, and never spoke publicly about his role in the flag raising, which is perhaps the greatest mystery of the photo.
Unlike his comrades who were subsequently identified and three of whom were ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt to tour the country selling war bonds, Schultz retained his privacy, returning home and working as a mailman after being seriously wounded during the war.
Before learning that his father was actually a part of a different flag raising on the Japanese island, Bradley’s son James Bradley wrote a book about the six flag raisers called Flags of our Fathers in 2000. Clint Eastwood adapted the book for film in 2006.
Even then, Schultz never spoke out to correct the record.
According to a USA Today report, “analysts believe Schultz, who received a Purple Heart, knew he was in the iconic image, but chose not to talk about it.”
According to his stepdaughter Dezreen MacDowell, Schultz was “a very self-effacing, Midwestern person.” However, she said he did speak about the photo in private once in the early ’90s.
“My mom was distracted and not listening and Harold said, ‘I was one of the flag raisers,'” MacDowell said. “I said, ‘My gosh, Harold, you’re a hero.’ He said, ‘No, I was a Marine.'”
This sense of humility reflects what being a Marine is all about, according to Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller.
“Although the Rosenthal image is iconic and significant, to Marines it’s not about the individuals and never has been,” Neller said.
“Simply stated, our fighting 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 doesn’t change,” he said.
