A Marine boarded Wood's LST looking for the largest U.S. flag he could find. American forces had already fought their way to the top of Mt. Suribachi and had a raised a small flag attached to a piece of water pipe.
U.S. officials called for a larger flag to be raised. It has always been said that the U.S. secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal wanted the original as a momento. Several months earlier, Wood had come across a 37-square foot flag at a Pearl harbor Navy depot and acquired it. This is the flag shown in the famous photo.
Over the years, others have claimed that they were the ones who had given the flag, but Marine Colonel Dave Severance, who commanded the company that took the top of Mt. Suribachi said just this week that the second one was Wood's.
Some 60 people have claimed over the years that they had had a role in the flag/flag-raising.
Wood was born in Pasadena, California, on May 3, 1922.
The Iwo Jima flags are on a rotating basis at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.
The Story of One Really Famous Flag. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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