Marine gave his life after helping raise flag on Iwo

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: January 20, 2003

The Lore of the Corps
Marine gave his life after helping raise flag on Iwo

By Keith Milks
Special to the Times

In the famous photograph of five Marines and a sailor hoisting the flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945, it is Sgt. Michael Strank, the least visible with only his right hand showing, who most intrigued those who learned his story.

Reports differ as to Strank?s birthplace. While some sources indicate he was born in Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia, and his parents immigrated to America a year later, it generally is accepted that he was born in Conemaugh, Pa., shortly after his parents? immigration. What isn?t in dispute is his birth date: Nov. 10, 1919, the Marine Corps? 144th birthday.

Reared in a strict Catholic home with two brothers, Strank was taught early the value of hard work and responsibility. When his parents opened a boarding house in 1933, Strank juggled his studies with work at home and graduated from high school in 1937.

Strank joined the Civilian Conservation Corps after graduation and spent 18 months working as a laborer in Arizona and Pennsylvania. When his request for an extension was denied, he turned to the Marine Corps and entered recruit training at Parris Island, S.C., in December 1939.

After boot camp and a year-long stint at Parris Island, Strank, a private first class, deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 1941, and was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. America entered World War II in December 1941, and the 1st Marine Division left for the Pacific in the spring of 1942.

Promoted to sergeant in January 1942, Strank briefly served with the 22nd Marines and then was assigned to the 3rd Raider Battalion. Strank received his combat baptism during the invasion of Pavuyu Island. He again saw combat in the jungles of Bougainville from November 1943 until January 1944.

Following his grueling tour on Bougainville, where he distinguished himself as a fearless and dependable combat leader, Strank returned to the United States for a brief period of recuperation. When he left the states late in 1944 as part of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, Strank said goodbye to his family?s adopted homeland for the last time.

E Company landed on Iwo Jima in the initial waves of the February 1945 invasion and Strank led his squad through the volcanic ash against stiff enemy opposition. On the 23rd, after four days of heavy fighting, Strank?s squad was atop Mount Suribachi when the call came to raise a second flag atop the mountain. A flag hoisted earlier was deemed too small.

Strank and his squad attached a larger flag to a heavy pole. Even with Pfc. Franklin Sousley and Cpls. Ira Hayes and Harlon Block assisting, the men had trouble raising the pole, so another Marine, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, and a Navy corpsman, John Bradley, lent a hand. Together, the six pushed the pole upright and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped the picture that became an immortal image.

The flag raised, and a few more photos taken, Strank and his fellow Marines continued their mission to conquer Iwo Jima. After five more days of bitter fighting, Strank was leading his squad against an enemy position when artillery fell around them and he was killed.

Sousley and Block also would die on Iwo Jima, while Bradley left the island seriously wounded. Gagnon and Hayes left Iwo Jima unscathed.

Sgt. Michael Strank, described as a ?Marine?s Marine? and the oldest of the flag-raisers at age 25, was buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima.

In 1949, his remains were exhumed and moved to Arlington National Cemetery, where the Marine Corps War Memorial, based on the Rosenthal photo, stands guard over his grave.

The writer is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.


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Sempers,

Roger