Commander of Marines who raised US flag at Iwo Jima dead at 102

SAN DIEGO — Dave Severance, the commander of the Marine troops who planted the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima in 1945 during World War II, died Monday at his California home, his family announced Wednesday. He was 102.

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The photograph of Marines raising the American flag on the small Pacific island is one of the most iconic war images, representing the Allied troops’ hard-fought victory in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Severance, a retired colonel, died in La Jolla, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. His death was confirmed by his daughters, Lynn Severance and Nina Cohen, according to The Washington Post. They said there was no specific cause of death.

There were actually two flag-raisings at Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, The New York Times reported. The second photo, captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, was taken when the battle for Iwo Jima was far from over, the newspaper reported.

Severance, a captain at the time, spent years quietly trying to set the record straight about the roles played by the soldiers during the flag-raising, the Union-Tribune reported.

For his actions during the battle, Severance earned the Silver Star, according to the Times. According to the citation, Severance, in a firefight for the heavily defended ridge, “skillfully directed the assault on this strong enemy position despite stubborn resistance.”

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“I tell people it’s for surviving,” Severance joked to the Union-Tribune in a 2012 interview.

During that interview, Severance said it was important to get the timeline straight about the flag-raising because it spoke to the courage and sacrifice he saw daily during the monthlong battle.

His company came ashore in the 10th wave of what eventually would be about 70,000 Marines invading the island, located about 660 miles south of Tokyo, the Union-Tribune reported. The Allies were met by approximately 20,000 Japanese soldiers hunkered down in fortified caves and tunnels.

Severance’s 240-man, six-officer unit spent 33 of the battle’s 36 days on the front lines, the newspaper reported. About 75% of the company was killed or wounded.

During the battle, a 40-man detachment was assigned to take the mountain, the Post reported. The patrol’s leader, Lt. Harold G. Schrier, carried a 28-by-54-inch U.S. flag.

The Marines battled their way to the summit, then attached the flag to an iron pipe and raised it atop Mount Suribachi, the newspaper reported. The moment was recorded by Marine Corps photographer Louis Lowery.

According to the Post, Navy Secretary James Forrestal was at Iwo Jima that day and wanted the flag as a personal memento. A larger flag was obtained from a nearby landing craft, and two hours later a second unit took the larger version of Old Glory to the summit.

This time, the Marines were joined Rosenthal and by Marine Corps Sgt. Bill Genaust, who had a film camera. The smaller flag was removed, and a larger, 96-by-56-inch flag was raised in its place.

The photo won the Pulitzer Prize, was featured on postage stamps and inspired Felix de Weldon’s bronze sculpture for the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, dedicated in 1954 near Arlington National Cemetery. The identities of the six men raising the second flag were not resolved until 2019.

Both flags are at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, the Times reported.

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Despite his connection to the iconic moment, Severance did not witness the flag-raising.

“It certainly was an inspiring event, but, frankly, I didn’t see it,” Severance told the New York Daily News in 1965. “I was with some of my other men on the south side of Suribachi, involved in combat, and we couldn’t see the face of the volcano, where the flag was raised. We only learned it later from battalion headquarters.”

Severance was born Feb. 4, 1919, in Milwaukee and grew up in Colorado, the Union-Tribune reported. He joined the Marines in 1938.

After years of writing letters about the flag-raising, Severance received a note in 2014 that the Marines would include an addendum in their records, the newspaper reported. The note acknowledged there were two instances of Marines scaling the summit to plant a flag.

Severance became a pilot after World War II and flew combat missions during the Korean War, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross, according to the Union-Tribune. He was promoted to colonel in 1962 and retired six years later.

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