Harlon Block | |
|---|---|
 Marine Corps recruit photo of Block in 1943 | |
| Birth name | Harlon Henry Block |
| Born | November 6, 1924 Yorktown, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 1, 1945 (aged 20) Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan |
| Buried | 5th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima 1949: Weslaco Cemetery, Weslaco, Texas 1995: Marine Military Academy, Harlingen, Texas |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | Purple Heart Medal Combat Action Ribbon |
Harlon Henry Block (November 6, 1924 – March 1, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps corporal who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
Born in Yorktown, Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps with seven high school classmates in February 1943. He subsequently became a Paramarine and participated in combat on Bougainville. After the Paramarines were disbanded in 1944, he was one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal.
The first flag raised over Mount Suribachi at the south end of Iwo Jima was deemed too small. Later that day, Block, a rifleman in the 5th Marine Division, was ordered up the mountain with three Marines to raise a larger flag. The second flag-raising photograph was an AP wirephoto that was widely reproduced and became famous. The second flag raising was also filmed in color.[1]
Block was not recognized as one of the second flag-raisers until the Marine Corps announced in January 1947 (after an investigation) that he was in the photograph and Sergeant Henry Hansen was not.[2][3] Block is one of three Marines in the photograph who were not originally identified as flag raisers.[4]
The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, was modeled after Rosenthal's photograph of six Marines raising the second flag on Iwo Jima.
- ^ YouTube, Smithsonian Channel, 2008 Documentary (Genaust films) "Shooting Iwo Jima" [1] Retrieved March 14, 2020
- ^ "Block, Harlon Henry - TracesOfWar.com".
- ^ "A Texan at Iwo Jima | Texas Co-op Power | An Online Community for Members of Texas Electric Cooperatives".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Investigating Iwowas invoked but never defined (see the help page).