The famous photograph does not depict the first flag raising on Iwo Jima. Later that same day the marines who raised the original flag went back up the mountain to replace it with a larger flag. Legend states that larger flag came directly from Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner's flagship. In reality it was 96 X 56 inch naval ensign requisitioned from one of the Landing Ships on the beach, though just which ship is a matter of some dispute. This time they were accompanied by a marine corps film cameraman and famous Life Magazine still photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the famous photograph. So the famed Iwo Jima pose is actually a picture of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi - albeit done by the same men who raised the first one. While the film is not as well known as the iconic photo, it does confirm that the so-called "pose" was not staged for the cameras.
The six US marines portrayed in the photograph are: (from left to right) Ira H. Hayes, Harold H. Schultz, Michael Strank, Franklin R. Sousley, Harold P. Keller, and Harlon H. Block.
Strank, Sousley, and Block were all killed-in-action during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Schultz was the last surviving flag raiser, and died in 1995.
