Editing Michael Strank (section)

==== First flag-raising ====
[[File:Iwo Jima Suribachi DN-SD-03-11845.JPEG|thumb|right|Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima]]
Sgt. Strank took part in the Second Battalion, [[28th Marine Regiment (United States)|28th Marines]], amphibious assault landing on Green Beach at the southern part of Iwo Jima near Mount Suribachi on February 19, 1945. The mission of the 28th Marines that day was to isolate Mount Suribachi, which it accomplished. The next day, the regiment secured the southern end of the island. Their mission afterwards, was to capture Mount Suribachi. After heavy opposition, the 28th Marines surrounded the mountain by the evening of February 22. On the morning of February 23, Lieutenant Colonel [[Chandler W. Johnson]], commander of the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, ordered E Company's executive officer, First Lieutenant [[Harold G. Schrier|Harold Schrier]], to take a platoon-sized patrol up 556-foot high Mount Suribachi to seize and occupy the crest, and if possible, raise the battalion's American flag to signal the summit was secure. E Company's commander, Captain [[Dave Severance]], assembled a 40-man patrol for the mission from the remainder of his Third Platoon and other members from the battalion.

The patrol left the base of Mount Suribachi at about 8:30&nbsp;a.m. Once Lt. Schrier was on top with his men after some occasional sniper fire and a brief firefight at the rim of the crater, he and his men secured the top. After a Japanese steel pipe was found, Lt. Schrier and two other Marines attached the flag to it. The flagstaff was then taken to the highest position on top and raised by Lt. Schrier, Platoon Sgt. [[Ernest Ivy Thomas|Ernest Thomas]], Sergeant [[Henry Oliver Hansen|Henry Hansen]],<ref>[http://ruralfloridaliving.blogspot.com/2012/07/famous-floridian-friday-ernest-ivy.html Rural Florida Living. CBS Radio interview by Dan Pryor with flag raiser Ernest "Boots" Thomas on February 25, 1945 aboard the] [[USS Eldorado (AGC-11)|USS ''Eldorado'']]: "''Three of us actually raised the flag''"</ref> and Corporal [[Charles W. Lindberg|Charles Lindberg]] at about 10:30&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="auto2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXAmygEACAAJ&q=iwo+jima+monuments|title=Iwo Jima Monuments, The Untold Story |last=Brown|first=Rodney |year=2019|publisher=War Museum|accessdate=16 March 2020|isbn=978-1-7334294-3-6}}</ref> Seeing the raising of the [[National colours|national colors]] immediately caused loud cheers from the Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen on the beaches at the southern end of Iwo Jima and from the men on the ships near the beaches. The men at, around, and holding the flagstaff were photographed several times by Marine Staff Sergeant [[Louis R. Lowery]], a photographer with [[Leatherneck magazine|''Leatherneck'' magazine]] who accompanied the patrol up the mountain. Platoon Sgt. Thomas was killed in action on Iwo Jima on March 3 and Sgt. Hansen was killed on March 1.