Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer who captured the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, was born on October 9, 1911, in Washington, D.C. During World War II, Rosenthal covered the Pacific campaign alongside U.S. forces. On February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima, he photographed six U.S. Marines raising a larger American flag atop Mount Suribachi. The photograph documented the second flag-raising of the day—not the earlier raising, in which Navy Pharmacist’s Mate John Bradley participated. Rosenthal’s image was transmitted by the Associated Press and soon appeared on front pages throughout the United States.
Rosenthal’s photograph became one of the most recognized and widely reproduced images of World War II. Its composition came to symbolize collective effort, sacrifice, and resolve while the United States was still fighting a costly global war. The image won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Photography and later served as the model for the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
Rosenthal’s birthday honors a consequential career in photojournalism and the enduring power of a single image to shape public memory. His photograph transformed a brief battlefield moment into a lasting symbol of the Pacific war and of those who served in it.
