U.S. Marines raise the flag on Iwo Jima during World War II. Fleming County native Franklin Sousley was among them.
Franklin Sousley.
This diagram shows where Sousley was located in the famous “Raising the flag” photograph.
A rather famous image from World War II shows six United States Marines raising a flag on Mount Suribachi.
While many may know of the photograph, a lesser-known fact is that one of those Marines was born and raised in Fleming County: Franklin Sousley.
According to local historian Ron Bailey, Sousley was born in Hill Top on Sept. 19, 1925. He was the son of Merle Sousley and Goldie Mitchell. In 1942, he graduated from high school and moved to Dayton, Ohio. Before he could be drafted, Sousley joined the United States Marine Corps on Jan. 5, 1944.
He arrived in Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. While there, he fought in the battle to capture the island. It was Feb. 23, 1945, when Sousley and five other Marines climbed Mount Suribachi and raised the flag.
“The first flag raised and flown over the mountain at the south end of Iwo Jima was regarded to be too small to be seen by the thousands of Marines fighting on the other side of Iwo Jima, so it was replaced on the same day by a larger one,” Bailey said. “Private Sousley was selected to find a steel pipe to attach the replacement flag on and at 1 p.m., the Fleming County native along with five other marines raised the flag and the most iconic photo was taken.”
Bailey said that on March 21, 1945, Sousley, who was a Private First Class then, was killed around Kitano Point. He was 19 years old and the last of the flag-raisers to die on Iwo Jima. He had been walking through an open area when he was struck in the back by a sniper.
He was buried in the 5th Marine Division Cemetery at Iwo Jima. In 1948, his remains were returned to Elizaville for re-internment.
Sousley was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation with one star for Iwo Jima, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star for Iwo Jima, and the World War II Victory Medal and was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart.
There is a U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial statue depicting the raising of the flag in Arlington, Va.
