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8x10" black and white photograph. Signed Charles W. Lindberg in black ink.

United States Marine Corps photographer Lou Lowery took this photograph of the start of the climb up Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima on the morning of February 23, 1945.The American flag raised was too small to be seen easily from the nearby landing beaches, so, later that day, a second, larger flag was raised, resulting in the iconic photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal used as the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington. Caption affixed to verso: “Starting to climb Mt. Suribachi – photographer Lou Lowery, fearing that the patrol might not reach the summit, asks the men to hold up flag for picture (Charles Lindberg is first in line).” Out of the 40 man platoon that made the climb up Suribachi and raised the first American flag on captured Japanese territory, 36 were killed or wounded in the subsequent fighting on Iwo Jima.