Iwo Jima Photographer dies

Joe Rosenthal, the photographer who captured the immortal image of the soldiers raising the flag in Iwo Jima, has died at the age of 94:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Photographer Joe Rosenthal, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his immortal image of six World War II servicemen raising an American flag over battle-scarred Iwo Jima, died Sunday. He was 94.

Rosenthal died of natural causes at an assisted living facility in the San Francisco suburb of Novato, said his daughter, Anne Rosenthal.

"He was a good and honest man, he had real integrity," Anne Rosenthal said.

His photo, taken for The Associated Press on Feb. 23, 1945, became the model for the Iwo Jima Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The memorial, dedicated in 1954 and known officially as the Marine Corps War Memorial, commemorates the Marines who died taking the Pacific island in World War II.

The photo was listed in 1999 at No. 68 on a New York University survey of 100 examples of the best journalism of the century.

Be sure to read the rest of the piece and if you ever go to Washington DC, the Marine Memorial is one of those "don't miss" attractions in the DC area. It's much larger than you probably imagine. It's an awesome sight. What an incredible experience it must have been to have caught that image on film.