Photographer Page

Joe Rosenthal

In this 1962 photo, people view Alcatraz through telescopes after a June escape attempt later made famous by a Clint Eastwood movie. In a complex plot involving bent bars and dummy heads, three men broke out and attempted to make landfall in a raft. They’re officially listed as missing, presumed drowned.

After five days of ferocious fighting, U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Iwo Jima’s highest point on February 23, 1945. Two days later, Joe Rosenthal’s photograph was on the front page of Sunday papers across the U.S. The acclaimed image won the Pulitzer Prize that same year.

After snapping the unposed flag-raising photo atop Mount Suribachi, Rosenthal asked 16 Marines—including Jack Thurman, at far left—and two Navy corpsmen to gather for this group portrait, which he later dubbed his “Gung-Ho” photo.

Five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman raise an American flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, four days after fighting began in the Battle for Iwo Jima. Three of these men would be killed before the battle was won. The U.S. Medal of Honour was given to 27 servicemen who fought in Iwo Jima, more than any other battle in U.S. history.