I know you recognize this picture.  It is Joe Rosenthal’s famous picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.  This is actually the second flag raised on Iwo Jima.  The first one was a lot smaller than this one.  The Marines placed the first flag on February 23, 1945 after they climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi.  There is a bit of controversy regarding the famous picture above.  Joe Rosenthal actually shot another photo of Marines posing in front of the flag.  After the famous photo went public, someone asked him if he posed the picture.  Thinking they were referring to the second one he took, he said “yes.” Many mistakenly thought he posed the famous flag raising picture.  He didn’t.  He actually got lucky snapping the picture.  He was busy trying to pile rocks to get a good view for the picture, when he saw them raising it.  He quickly shot the picture without looking through the viewfinder!