81 years ago, today, anons.

On February 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima, two American flags were raised atop Mount Suribachi. The first flag, a smaller 54-by-28-inch flag, was raised around 10:30 a.m. by a patrol led by First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines. It was attached to a Japanese iron water pipe and planted by Schrier, Sergeant Oliver Hansen, and Sergeant Ernest Thomas.