REDDING, Calif. — Raymond Jacobs, believed to be the last surviving member of the group of Marines photographed during the original U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, has died at age 82.
Jacobs died Jan. 29 of natural causes, his daughter, Nancy Jacobs, said.
Jacobs spent his later years working to prove he was the radio operator photographed looking up at a U.S. flag as it was being raised by other Marines on Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.
Newspaper accounts from the time show he was on the mountain during the initial raising of a smaller American flag, though he had returned to his unit by the time the more famous AP photograph was taken of a second flag-raising later the same day.
The radioman’s face isn’t fully visible in the first picture taken of the first flag-raising by Lou Lowery, a photographer for Leatherneck magazine, leading some to question Jacobs’ claim. However, other negatives show the radioman is Jacobs, said retired Col. Walt Ford, editor of Leatherneck.
Associated Press
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