Harold Keller

Mount Suribachi on south end of Iwo Jima

Harold Keller was born on August 3, 1921, in Brooklyn, Iowa. Keller graduated from Brooklyn High School. On January 2, 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended training at Camp Elliott in San Diego and later training in Honolulu, Hawaii. Keller was assigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and took part in the fighting at Guadalcanal. In 1943, Keller was shot through his right shoulder at Bougainville.[5]

In February of 1944, the Marine Raiders were disbanded. Keller met and subsequently married his wife, Ruby O'Halloran, while he was home on leave. Keller was next assigned to Easy (E) Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division which was activated at Camp Pendleton in 1944. In September, the division was sent to Camp Tarawa near Hilo, Hawaii, for further training to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. In January 1945, the division left Hawaii and sailed for Iwo Jima. Keller participated in the battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February 19 and ended on March 26. On February 23, he was part of the 40-man patrol that ascended Mount Suribachi and raised the Second Battalion's flag on top. Later that day, he was one of the six Marines that raised a second and larger flag on top.[5]

Second flag raising

Marine Corps photo of the two flags on Mount Suribachi. Pfc. Gagnon (forefront), lowering flag[3]

Two hours after the first flag was raised on Mount Suribachi, Marine Corps leaders decided that in order for the American flag to be better seen on the other side of Mount Suribachi by the thousands of Marines fighting there to capture the island, another larger flag should be flown on Mount Suribachi (Lt. Col. Johnson also wanted to secure the flag for his battalion). Under Lt. Col. Johnson's orders, Captain Severance ordered Sergeant Michael Strank a rifle squad leader from Second Platoon, to take three of his Marines to the top of Mount Suribachi and raise the second flag. Sgt. Strank chose Corporal Harlon Block, Private First Class Ira Hayes, and Private First Class Franklin Sousley. Private First Class Rene Gagnon, a Second Battalion runner (messenger) for E Company, was ordered to take the replacement flag up the mountain and return the first flag to the battalion adjutant.[7]

When Sgt. Strank with his three Marines got to the top with communication wire (or supplies), Pfc. Hayes and Pfc. Sousley found a Japanese steel pipe to attach the flag on. After they took the pipe to Sgt. Strank and Cpl. Block, the replacement flag was attached to the pipe which was near the other flag. As the four Marines were about to raise the flagstaff, Sgt. Strank and Cpl. Block called out to two nearby Marines from Lt. Schrier's patrol, Private First Class Harold Schultz and Private First Class Keller, to help them raise the flagstaff.[8] Lt. Schrier then ordered the six Marines to raise the second flag while Pfc. Gagnon and three Marines lowered the first flagstaff.[3] In order to keep the flagstaff in a vertical position, Sgt. Strank and his three Marines held it while rocks were added by Pfc. Keller, Pfc. Schultz, and others around the base of the flagstaff. The flagstaff then was stabilized with three guy-ropes.

Associated Press combat photographer Joe Rosenthal had climbed up the mountain with two Marine photographers (Marine Sergeant Bill Genaust and Private Robert Campbell) in time to photograph the first flag while it was still up. This also enabled him to take the famous black-and-white photograph of the second-flag raising; Rosenthals's second flag raising photograph started appearing in newspapers on Sunday, February 25, 1945. Other combat photographers, including Pfc. George Burns, an army photographer (from Yank Magazine) and a Coast Guard photographer, also climbed up Mount Suribachi after the first flag raising to take pictures including some of each flag flying. Lt. Colonel Johnson was killed on Iwo Jima on March 2 and Sgt. Bill Genaust, who filmed the second flag-raising in color, was killed in a cave on March 4. Sgt. Strank and Cpl. Block were killed on March 1 and Pfc. Sousley was killed on March 21.

Keller is fourth from right in Joe Rosenthal's "Gung Ho" photo taken at Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945

Harold Keller survived the war and returned to his wife Ruby in Iowa. They raised two boys and one girl.

Though Keller virtually never spoke of the war, Marine researchers found evidence that he acknowledged the fact that he was one of the second flag raisers at least twice: first, in a letter to Ruby written from Iwo Jima in February or March of 1945; and decades later, circa 1977, in a newsletter of his employer (a company called Surge) in which his participation is stated unambiguously. Additionally, Keller's private scrapbook contained a strongly-worded letter from Major General Philip H. Torrey, dated 17 September 1945, which suggests that Keller might have attempted to correct the record but was silenced. [3]

Keller worked a series of jobs in his hometown and was also a member of the volunteer fire department in Brooklyn for 30 years, eventually becoming the fire chief. He died of a heart attack on March 13, 1979. He was buried in the Brooklyn Memorial Cemetery.[5]

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia

The Marine Corps War Memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) in Arlington, Virginia, was dedicated on November 10, 1954.[9] The monument was sculptured by Felix de Weldon from the photograph of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi. Since October 23, 2016, Harold Keller is depicted as the second Marine figure from the base of the flagstaff on the memorial.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sat upfront during the dedication ceremony with Vice President Richard Nixon, Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Anderson, and General Lemuel C. Shepherd, the 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Ira Hayes, one of the three surviving flag raisers (Hayes, Schultz, and Keller) depicted on the monument, was also seated upfront with John Bradley (incorrectly identified as a flag raiser until June 23, 2016),[8] Rene Gagnon (incorrectly identified as a flag raiser until October 16, 2019),[2] Mrs Martha Strank, Mrs. Ada Belle Block, and Mrs. Goldie Price (mother of Franklin Sousley).[10] Those giving remarks at the dedication included Robert Anderson, Chairman of Day; Colonel J.W. Moreau, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), President, Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation; General Shepherd, who presented the memorial to the American people; Felix de Weldon; and Richard Nixon, who gave the dedication address.[11] Inscribed on the memorial are the following words:

In Honor And Memory Of The Men of The United States Marine Corps Who Have Given Their Lives To Their Country Since 10 November 1775

Second flag-raising photograph

The six second flag-raisers:
#1, Cpl. Harlon Block (KIA)
#2, Pfc. Harold Keller
#3, Pfc. Franklin Sousley (KIA)
#4, Sgt. Michael Strank (KIA)
#5, Pfc. Harold Schultz
#6, Pfc. Ira Hayes

On March 20, 1945, President Roosevelt ordered the flag-raisers in Rosenthal's photograph to Washington D.C. after the battle. Pfc. Gagnon was ordered to Washington and arrived on April 7. He was questioned the same day by a Marine public information officer about all the identities of the flag raisers in the photograph. He identified the six flag raisers as Sgt. Strank, Pfc. Sousley, Navy corpsman John Bradley, Pfc. Ira Hayes, and Sgt. Henry Hansen, and himself. He also said Sgt. Strank, Sgt. Hansen, and Pfc. Sousley were killed on Iwo Jima.[12] After Pfc. Gagnon was questioned, Pfc. Hayes and PhM2c. Bradley were ordered to Washington. Bradley, who was recovering from his wounds at Oakland Naval Hospital in Oakland, California, was transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland, where he was shown Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph and was told he was in it. Both Bradley (on crutches) and Hayes arrived in Washington on April 19. They reported to the same officer and were questioned separately. PhM2c. Bradley agreed with all of the identities of the flag-raisers named by Pfc. Gagnon in the photograph including his own. Pfc. Hayes agreed with all of the identities named by Pfc. Gagnon except Sgt. Hansen, saying that Cpl. Block at the base of the flagstaff. The Marine lieutenant colonel told Pfc. Hayes that the identities had already been made public and would not be changed and to not mention anything in public (that officer would later deny that Pfc. Hayes told him of the mis-identification).[13][3]

A Marine Corps investigation of the identities of the six second flag-raisers began in December 1946 and concluded in January 1947, confirming Pfc. Hayes claim that Cpl. Block, not Sgt. Hansen, was in the photograph, and that no one party was responsible for the mis-identification.[3] The identities of the other five second flag-raisers were confirmed.

In June 2016, the Marine Corps review board announced that John Bradley had incorrectly been identified in the photograph.[12] The person initially ascribed to Bradley (fourth from left) was that of Sousley, while the person in Sousley's former position (second from left) was Harold Schultz.[12][3] The identities of the other five flag-raisers were confirmed. Schultz had never publicly mentioned that he was a flag-raiser or was in the photograph.[14][15]

A third Marine Corps investigation into the identities of the six second flag-raisers concluded in October 2019, that Keller was in the Rosenthal's photograph in place of Rene Gagnon (fifth from left).[16] Gagnon who carried the larger second flag up Mount Suribachi, helped lower the first flagstaff and removed the first flag at the time the second flag was raised.[3] Photos and video footage showed that the person (Keller) who had been thought to have been Gagnon was wearing a wedding ring; at the time, Keller was married and Gagnon was not. The person (Keller) also did not have a facial mole; Gagnon did. The Marine Corps photo taken by Private Robert Campbell which showed both flags on top of Mount Suribachi verified that Keller was actually the person thought to have been Gagnon.[3] The identities of the other five flag raisers including Schultz were confirmed. Like Schultz, Keller never publicly mentioned that he was a flag-raiser or that he was in the photograph.