| Joseph John Rosenthal was born on October 9, 1911 in | | | | the San Francisco Chronicle, where he worked for 35 |
| Washington, D.C. to Russian Jewish immigrants. During | | | | years before retiring in 1981. In 1996 he was named as |
| the Great Depression Joe took up photography as a | | | | an honorary Marine by General Charles Krulak. He died |
| hobby while living with his brother in San Francisco, | | | | on August 20, 2006, at the age of 94, of natural |
| California, but soon became a reporter/photographer | | | | causes in Novato, a suburb of San Francisco. He was |
| for the San Francisco News. Unable to enlist in the | | | | found in his bed at 10:45 a.m. in an assisted living center |
| Army because of poor vision, he joined the | | | | after passing away in his sleep. Joe outlived everyone |
| Associated Press and became an embedded | | | | in his famous photograph. |
| journalist involved in Marine Corps campaigns in the | | | | |
| Pacific during World War II. | | | | Rosenthal was portrayed by actor Ned Eisenberg in |
| | | | | the movie, "Flags of Our Fathers", in 2006 and |
| Battle of Iwo Jima: On February 23, 1945, the fifth day | | | | posthumously awarded the Distinguished Public |
| of a 36 day battle that would eventually leave 6,621 | | | | Service Medal by the US Marines. Secretary of the |
| Americans dead, Joe had heard that an American flag | | | | Navy, James Forrestal said of Rosenthal, "He was as |
| was being raised on Mount Suribachi, so he hurried to | | | | gallant as the men going up that hill". The photo remains |
| reach the top of the small volcano in hopes of | | | | the pride of the US Marine Corps in that it represents |
| capturing a still shot of the flag-raising. Along the way, | | | | the fighting spirit of the brave men that both risked and |
| he had heard that the flag had already been raised but | | | | gave their lives on that small island. |
| he continued his climb anyway so that he could | | | | |
| photograph the flag flying. | | | | Of his experiences in combat situations, it has been |
| | | | | said that very few military men have seen as much |
| After reaching the top of the summit, he noticed a | | | | war-time action as Joe Rosenthal. He was in a North |
| group of Marines preparing to raise a larger flag by | | | | Atlantic convoy of Liberty Ships under attack by |
| attaching it to a long pipe, so he decided that he would | | | | German U-boats, in London during the Blitz, in the |
| concentrate on taking the photo of a second | | | | jungles of New Guinea with General MacArthur's |
| flag-raising. After adjusting his camera's lens setting | | | | fighting army, on several war-time ships in the South |
| and its speed to 1/400th second he quickly noticed that | | | | Pacific, in the cockpits with Navy pilots while attacking |
| the Marines had started raising the flag so he was | | | | Japanese controlled territory in the Philippines, in the |
| forced to swing around rather quickly to take the shot | | | | initial wave of beach landings while under fire in Guam, |
| but was able to push the shutter just in time. | | | | Peleliu, Angaur, and Iwo Jima. |
| | | | | |
| This much needed photo soon became a symbol for | | | | Of his prize winning photograph, Joe modestly said, "I |
| victory back in the United States and was published | | | | took the picture, the Marines took Iwo Jima". He also |
| around the world as early as February 25, 1945. This | | | | said, "Every once in a while someone teases me that I |
| Pulitzer Prize winning photograph, after making the | | | | could have been rich. But I'm alive. A lot of the men |
| cover of several magazines and placed on a US | | | | who were there are not. And a lot of them were |
| postage stamp, would later be used as a model for | | | | badly wounded. I was not. And so I don't have the |
| the Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington. The | | | | feeling someone owes me for this." Joe made very |
| Pulitzer Committee described this photo as "a frozen | | | | little money from the photo. He was grateful just to be |
| flash of history" and as "depicting one of the war's | | | | alive. He was very knowledgeable in World War II |
| great moments". It has also been called the greatest | | | | history because for him it was quite personal. He once |
| photograph ever taken and that it could very well be | | | | said that his proudest possession was his framed |
| the most widely reproduced. It stirred the American | | | | certificate which declared him an honorary Marine. It |
| people in their rally for victory at a very critical time in | | | | sometimes takes years for a photographer to be in |
| the war. | | | | the right place at the right moment. Joe's moment was |
| | | | | on Mount Suribachi. Was he born for that moment? |
| After leaving the AP in 1945, Joe became chief | | | | Some may think so. I don't know, but I and millions of |
| photographer and manager of Times Wide World | | | | proud Americans like me are grateful that he was |
| Photos, and then on to becoming a photographer for | | | | there. |