ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. - Seventy years ago, Marines fought for footholds in the volcanic earth of an unknown Pacific Ocean island named Iwo Jima. Throughout the five weeks of battle against the Empire of Japan, over 6,800 Americans spilled their blood in the shadow of the island's summit, Mount Suribachi.
On Feb. 23, 1945, five Marines and a Sailor pierced Suribachi's rocks and soil with a flag pole while Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped a photograph that still today is one of America's most identifiable symbols.
Of the six men who raised the flag atop Suribachi, three are buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Though located in separate areas of ANC, the graves of Cpl. Ira Hayes, Cpl. Rene Gagnon and Sgt. Michael Strank are easily accessible to the public.
Two of the three flag raisers, Strank and Gagnon, were reinterred in Arlington. Strank was killed in action less than a week following the famous flag raising. He was interred at Arlington Jan. 13, 1949.
Gagnon survived Iwo Jima and passed away in 1979. His remains were reburied in Section 51 July 7, 1981. Just 30 yards from the Ord & Weitzel Gate, Gagnon holds the distinction and honor of being buried the closest to his likeness on the Marine Corps War Memorial.
Former Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall historian Kim Holien still conducts tours of the cemetery and mentioned Gagnon's headstone is easy to find right off Ord & Weitzel Drive.
"[Tourists] aren't so surprised by the proximity of Gagnon's grave with relationship to the monument, but they are surprised with the back of the headstone. It really is unique. The back of the headstone with the plaque of the Iwo Jima flag raising really makes it stand out," Holien said. "He's on the right side of the drive when you're heading toward the river."
Strank's weathered headstone is located in Section 12, grave number 7179 in the vicinity of one of Arlington National Cemetery's most iconic landmarks: McClellan Gate.
Holien noted that burial near the famed arched gate was an honor saved for notable service members.
"McClellan Gate is the most historical gate at the cemetery," Holien said. "To have someone buried there is really something."
Hayes' grave is in hilly Section 34 very near the resting place of General of the Army John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. Hayes, a Pima Indian, was buried in Arlington on Feb. 2, 1955, less than 10 years after climbing Mount Suribachi. He died of exposure in his native state of Arizona in January 1955.
Holien has a number of theories on why the three flag raisers were buried in separate parts of the cemetery. One theory being that distancing the World War II heroes would have given each part of the cemetery a unique identity. His second theory has to do with the massive foot traffic which visits Arlington each year.
"These three grave sites of the Iwo Jima flag raisers are distributed in the old section of the cemetery ... so that each section has one," he said. "Remember, if you cluster everybody together in one little area, that area will get worn out by visitation. But if you space [notable graves] out in the north end and the central and the south end, then you don't get that clustering."
According to the cemetery's public affairs office, the three Iwo Jima flag raisers were buried in separate sections because they were interred or reinterred during different years.
The other flag raisers were Franklin Sousley, John Bradley and Harlon Block. Like Strank, Block was killed March 1, 1945, on Iwo Jima and was later buried in Texas. Navy Hospital Corpsman Bradley's final resting place is in Wisconsin, and Sousley died March 21 on Iwo Jima and came stateside to rest in his native state of Kentucky.
Rosenthal lived to be 94 years old and passed away in 2006.
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