Rene A. Gagnon

On the morning of February 23, Lieutenant Colonel Chandler W. Johnson commander of the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, ordered E Company's commander Captain Dave Severance to send a platoon-sized patrol from his company up Mount Suribachi to lay siege to and occupy the crest.

The remainder of Third platoon, other Marines from the battalion, and two Navy corpsmen, formed a 40-man patrol.

René Arthur Gagnon (March 7, 1925 – October 12, 1979) was a United States Marine Corps corporal who participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Gagnon was born March 7, 1925, in Manchester, New Hampshire, the only child of French Canadian immigrants from Disraeli, Quebec, Henri Gagnon (1905-1966) and Irène Marcotte (1901-1988).

He grew up without a father.

His parents separated when he was an infant, though they never divorced.

When he was old enough, he worked alongside his mother at a local shoe factory.

He also worked as a bicycle messenger boy for the local Western Union.

Gagnon landed on the southeast side of Iwo Jima with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, on "Green Beach 1", which was the closest landing beach to Mount Suribachi on the southern end of the island.

On February 23, Pfc.

Gagnon who was the battalion runner (messenger) for Easy Company, incorrectly became a part of what was most likely the most celebrated American flag raising in U.S. history.

If they made it to the top, First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, E Company's executive officer who was selected by the 28th Marines commander to lead the patrol, was to raise the Second Battalion's flag on top to signal that the mountaintop was secure.

On orders from Lt. Col Johnson, First Lieutenant George G. Wells the battalion adjutant handed Lt. Schrier the flag just before the patrol left the base of Mount Suribachi at about 8:30 a.m. Once Lt. Schrier was on top with his men after some occasional sniper fire and a brief firefight at the rim, he and two other Marines attached the flag to a length of Japanese iron water pipe that was found.

Lt. Schrier, Platoon Sgt. Ernest Thomas, Sergeant Henry Hansen, and Corporal Charles Lindberg, raised the flag at approximately 10:30 a.m. Seeing the raising of the national colors immediately caused loud cheers from the Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen on the south end beaches of Iwo Jima and from the men on the ships near the beach.

Third Platoon corpsman John Bradley pitched in with Private Phil Ward to help make the flagstaff stay vertical.

The men at, around, and holding the flagstaff which included Lt. Schrier's radio operator, Private First Class Raymond Jacobs (assigned to patrol from F Company), were photographed several times by Staff Sergeant Lou Lowery, a photographer with Leatherneck magazine who accompanied the patrol up the mountain.

Platoon Sgt. Thomas was killed on Iwo Jima on March 3 and Sgt. Hansen was killed on March 1.

Approximately two hours after the first flag was raised, Lt. Col. Johnson decided that a larger U.S. flag should replace it so the flag could be more visible on the other side of the mountain where thousands of Marines were fighting to take the island.

Sgt. Michael Strank, a rifle squad leader of Second Platoon, E Company, was ordered by Captain Severance to take three of his Marines up to the top of Mount Suribachi and raise a second flag which was obtained from one of the ships docked on shore.

Sgt. Strank selected Cpl. Harlon Block, Pfc.

Ira Hayes, and Pfc.

Franklin Sousley.

Capt. Severance also ordered Pfc.

Gagnon was inducted into the United States Marine Corps Reserve on May 6, 1943.

He was sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.

On July 16, he was promoted to private first class.

He was transferred to the Marine Guard Company at Charleston Navy Yard in South Carolina and remained there for eight months.

On April 4, 1944, he joined the Military Police Company of the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California.

On April 8, 1944, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division.

In September, the 5th division left Camp Pendleton for further training at Camp Tarawa, Hawaii.

The 5th Division trained there to prepare for the assault on Iwo Jima by three Marine divisions of the V Amphibious Corps (code named "Operation Detachment").

Gagnon was generally known as being one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as depicted in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal.

On February 19, 1945, Pfc.

On October 16, 2019, the Marine Corps announced publicly (after an investigation) that Corporal Harold Keller, not Gagnon, was in Rosenthal's photo.

Gagnon was one of three men who were originally identified incorrectly as flag-raisers in the photograph (the others being Hank Hansen and John Bradley).

The first flag that had been raised was deemed too small.

Later that day, Gagnon, a runner in the 5th Marine Division, was given a larger flag to take up the mountain.

A photo of the second flag-raising became famous and was widely reproduced.

After the battle, Gagnon and two other men who were identified as surviving second flag-raisers were reassigned to help raise funds for the Seventh War Loan drive.

The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, is modeled after Rosenthal's photograph of six Marines raising the second flag on Iwo Jima.