From small Slovak village to Mount Suribachi on iconic WW2 photo

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After extremely fierce fighting, the American flag flew on Mount Suribachi towering above the small island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean on February 23, 1945. The unique moment was captured by photojournalist Joe Rosenthal. Six tough and seasoned men - marines - raised together a long metal pole on which the stars and stripes flew.

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Among these men was Sergeant Michael Strank, a native of Jarabina near Stara Ľubovna, north-eastern Slovakia, who led the mission. To this day, this scene probably remains the most significant symbol of Pacific War. What was the journey of the Slovak native wearing the US Armed Forces uniform all the way to Mount Suribachi like and why was the battle for this tiny piece of land so important? We spoke to historian Martin Posch from the Institute of History.

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The picture documenting this historic moment eventually served as the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Virginia near Washington. Is it true that Joe Rosenthal somewhat staged the scene?

To some extent, yes, because it was the second raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi. However, the reason was not solely related to the iconic image and the needs of wartime propaganda, there was a very simple reason. The first raising took place on the same day, but the flag was not big enough. The second raising of a larger flag, thus visible from afar, was intended to let all American troops on the island know that this extinct volcano was at least somewhat in their hands. We have to realise that at that moment it was not yet possible to say that fighting was over. On the contrary, the bloodshed continued well into the second half of March 1945.

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Did American military planners expect that the fighting for this island would be so fierce?

The original plan counted on Iwo Jima being taken over within a week. Preparations for the battle were preceded by a significant failure on the part of the American intelligence services. The beaches selected for landing were marked as excellent, for example, an area soldiers were supposed to enter easily and move around in quickly. When they actually set foot on the island, their movement was hindered by a several-metre thick layer of volcanic ash and sand, making it difficult to advance and build trenches or other types of protection in case they were fired upon. However, the Japanese shelling did not start immediately. Lieutenant General and commander of the Japanese garrison Tadamichi Kuribayashi significantly changed military tactics and the Japanese did not greet the advancing American troops with fire immediately, but waited until they could engage larger numbers of enemy soldiers.

Why was Iwo Jima so important? After all, it is just a small patch of land with an area of approximately 20 square kilometres. Moreover, it is hundreds of kilometres away from the Japanese mainland itself.

The fact that the American army would attack Iwo Jima was known several months in advance. Since the summer of 1944, Iwo Jima had been bombed and shelled by naval artillery; based on its strategic location, it was clear that the Americans would try to capture it. They fought to acquire a strategic advance area, and Iwo Jima was undoubtedly it.

Therefore, I would answer in two parts. From Japan's point of view, the intention was to gain as much time as possible to prepare the defence of the Japanese mainland by putting up a determined fight on Iwo Jima. At the same time, there were several airports, from which, for example, Japanese planes took off during the Mariana Islands campaign. In case of emergencies, Iwo Jima also served as a refuge for Japanese ships. However, the main point was delaying US troops.

On the other hand, the Americans had their own plans for the island. One was to potentially establish an airfield from which B-17 and B-29 heavy bombers could take off to reach the Japanese mainland. Iwo Jima could also serve as a base for the fighters escorting the bombers. Bear in mind that at this point an operation codenamed Downfall was being seriously considered, the goal of which was landing on the Japanese mainland, and Iwo Jima could have been an important staging point for stockpiling, training troops and building a base for the proposed invasion.

Many historians compare Iwo Jima and especially the Suribachi volcano, intertwined with a large number of bunkers, underground passages and gun emplacements, to Emmental cheese. What can be said about the Japanese military strategy and the way it was implemented after the US troops landed?

The Japanese opened fire about an hour after American troops landed. It should be noted that the Japanese fortification was structured according to Lieutenant General Kuribayashi's decision. He changed the classic defence tactics of the Japanese army - for example, he banned his soldiers from carrying out suicide banzai attacks, which often happened at night and for which the marines were ready to some extent. Although the Japanese were well fortified, each of the soldiers only had about 60 percent of the usual amount of ammunition available. That's why they had to consider every target. Thus, they allowed the American soldiers to land knowing that when they would finally open fire, they could hit as many targets as possible, causing a massacre. Of course, fighting morale played an important role here, and the Japanese wanted to show that they could defend themselves for a very long time in a small area and inflict heavy losses on their enemy. This is also why Iwo Jima was one of the fiercest battles of the US Marine Corps, and it is also one of the bloodiest ones in the Pacific War. More than 6,000 American soldiers died, an extremely high number for a site that, according to Admiral Chester Nimitz, was supposed to be taken over in less than a week. The Americans went into the battle with excessively high self-confidence, and Lieutenant General Kuribayashi tried to take advantage of that.

According to our traditional Western view, the Japanese soldiers are seen as men who are determined to die. Was it like that on Iwo Jima as well?

Of course, one cannot read minds of each man, but all it takes is to look at the statistics of how many soldiers were deployed and how many died. A little over 20,000 Japanese men took part in the battle, of which 19,000 fell. It can be concluded such a scenario was probably anticipated. I dare say that many Japanese men really went there knowing that they would not return. After all, we are talking about the final phase of the war; just a few months before Iwo Jima, the first kamikaze attack was carried out during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. This type of suicide bombing would intensify in the following weeks and months. Actually, Kuribayashi himself had several such pilots, which he used during the Battle of Iwo Jima; due to them, more than 300 American sailors died.

Moreover, the Japanese made good use of the space available to them. Not only did they hide under the volcanic rock, which was able to withstand rather heavy bombardment and shelling from Allied ships, they also strengthened this defensive position with new materials and equipment. For example, some very powerful Japanese artillery guns were covered by a steel plate that opened and closed automatically during fire to protect the gunners.

The American military operation began on February 19, the flag flew on Mount Suribachi on February 23. Despite this, the battle dragged on for another month. Why?

The Battle of Iwo Jima did not involve ordinary battles and advancing armies in the way we somewhat naively imagine from classic war movies. After the American troops took over and "cleared" a certain part of Mount Suribachi or the island, using a network of hidden tunnels the Japanese would often return to these parts, starting the battle once again behind the advancing army. This was also the reason why the battle was so fierce and so long.

If we want to look at these events through the eyes of Slovak native Sergeant Michael Strank, we must first imagine him as a soldier. In what position did he serve in the American army and under what circumstances did he die?

In February 1945, he was a platoon commander, and the men who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi were actually his subordinates. If we look at the group of six men in the picture, in addition to Michael Strank, another two died shortly after on Iwo Jima. This example too shows the fierceness of the battles. Michael Strank joined the army back in 1939 as a 20-year-old boy for a four-year service which he extended. Before being deployed to Iwo Jima, he took part in military training in Hawaii and in battles on the Russell Islands. His superiors saw considerable potential in him; he grew in rank from an ordinary soldier to sergeant. Before being deployed to Iwo Jima, he managed to come back to Pennsylvania and visit his family for the last time. On that fateful March 1, 1945 he had planned another attack against the Japanese defenders. He and several other men were then accidentally hit by friendly artillery fire. Unfortunately, with such massive shelling as was concentrated on Iwo Jima, this was not an isolated case.

The relatively well-known American-Japanese 2006 movie Letters from Iwo Jima offers an interesting look at the Pacific Theatre. In it, the viewer is witness to several brutal scenes in which Japanese soldiers choose death by their own weapons or carry out suicide attacks rather than surrender. Does this correspond to reality, and did American soldiers face such fanaticism?

Yes, Iwo Jima and later the Battle of Okinawa a few weeks later are a negative example of such suicidal tactics. In these, one could really find a lot of creative ways how an individual could sacrifice themself and hit as many enemy soldiers as possible. Japanese soldiers often strapped anti-tank mines on and threw themselves under American tanks and other heavy equipment. Of course, do not think that 18,000 Japanese soldiers got up and went against the American machine guns with bayonets. Carrying out such a senseless banzai attack was forbidden by Kuribayashi. On the contrary, his intention was to hit the largest part of the enemy with the least force.

Was the military command in Japan even interested in doing anything to save their soldiers on the island, or was it simply no longer in their power?

At the time, the US Navy outnumbered the remaining Japanese fleet, so it was practically impossible. In addition, a significant lack of fuel played a part, making the situation even more difficult for the Japanese. In this regard, there is the well-known story of the battleship Yamato sent on a suicide kamikaze mission with only a limited supply of fuel for the journey in order to damage as many enemy ships as possible. Of course, the battleship ending up on the ocean floor was expected.

When looking at the number of casualties, it seems that almost the same scenario repeated when the US troops attempted to take over Okinawa. Did these two battles represent the greatest American war traumas of the entire Pacific Theatre?

It is interesting in this regard that the 1945 battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa at the very end of the war seem to overshadow the previous battles in the Pacific - the battles of Guadalcanal, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands and the Mariana Islands. The brutality of the war on these two islands seem to fascinate us even decades later and to some extent overshadow the previous battles. It was here that the US Marine Corps was often deployed and suffered the greatest casualties in its entire history since its establishment in the late 18th century.

In the case of Iwo Jima alone, more than 6,000 American soldiers died and 19,000 were wounded. Were these numbers taken in consideration in discussions of the next course of action to support the rejection the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland and the deployment of atomic weapons?

Often, when we talk about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we see their unquestionable destructive power and brutality primarily in how they relate to the civilian population. However, it was precisely the reality of the Iwo Jima and Okinawa battles that lead to an extremely negative effect for the Japanese. The high-quality preparation and fierceness of the Japanese defences on both islands were used by those who preferred deployment to previously unseen weapons. They wanted to pressure Japanese political representatives and the Japanese emperor to capitulate. When the American generals put together how many soldiers they had lost on such a small area, they were rightly afraid of landing on the Japanese mainland. In addition, there were objectively huge logistical problems. When the Allies landed in Normandy in 1944, Britain was near; therefore, a huge number of Allied soldiers and heavy combat equipment could be concentrated in one place. There was no such base near Japan. Staging a landing in the heart of Japan from islands as small as Iwo Jima or Okinawa would have been much more difficult than crossing the English Channel in Europe.

Returning to Michael Strank, how did his story continue? After his death, did he immediately become the American hero as we know him today?

The photograph of the raising of the American flag won the Pulitzer Prize very quickly, making it iconic almost instantly. Michael Strank himself was first buried on the island of Iwo Jima, in a cemetery intended for members of his 5th Marine Division. From the very beginning, he was remembered at least by his brothers-in-arms and marines, as their ranks have a traditionally strong collective memory. In 1949, his remains were transferred to the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in which the famous monument dedicated to all members of the Marine Corps who died for their country throughout its history stands. At the same time, this monument is also a great tribute to Michael Strank and five other soldiers from Iwo Jima. It is an exact copy of the photo and thus of the moment when the Slovak native raised the American flag, making it an embodiment of the hero for us as well.

However, I personally do not like the concept of a hero, because we often remember one soldier and forget the tens of thousands of others who fought, suffered and died in the same way. However, one circumstance is interesting in this story - it was not until 2008 that it was discovered that Michael Strank was not a native American. He became an American citizen in 1935 when his father was naturalised, but he never had any documents. Nevertheless, he joined the army and fought under the US flag. When the authorities found out, they issued the necessary papers regarding Michael Strank's citizenship in an expedited process and presented them to his then-still-living sister during a ceremony in front of the Arlington Memorial.

It was from this moment that Slovaks became aware of their native son. Despite the fact that his Ruthenian origins are known, many historians label Michael Strank as Slovak, Ukrainian or even Polish. What is causing this confusion?

This brings us to nationalism and its strength in Central Europe. In cases such as this, I try to rely on documents and how the person in question defined themself. However, in the case of Michael Strank the options are limited, therefore, I would rely on the ethnicity of his parents, who were Ruthenians. I dare say that despite the fact that he was aware of his origins, since he had been in the US from the age of 6 it had a decisive influence on him, he could have viewed himself primarily as an American. The fact that historians of different nationalities are trying to get Michael Strank on their side says more about them. However, for such a famous soldier as he was, this is not surprising.

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