The image is indelible—U.S. servicemen raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi. In this issue, Joe Rosenthal recalls how he happened to snap the photo that won him a Pulitzer Prize.
Retired Marine Corps Colonel Joe Alexander calls this crucial battle “the amphibious pinnacle” of World War II. In the February 1995 U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, he follows the sea services onto the Iwo beaches. Here, as the centerpiece of Naval History's 50th-anniversary coverage, Alexander takes a rare critical look at the Japanese defenders. Our special section concludes with a tribute to Jack Lummus—Medal of Honor recipient for heroism at Iwo—written by the woman he was to have married.
Also highlighted in this issue: Rear Admiral “Jig Dog” Ramage details how he and a few other officers urged that Navy carrier aircraft launch with atomic bombs. And a serving Marine speech writer recounts the story of U.S. Marines under command of Army Colonel Robert E. Lee capturing abolitionist John Brown at Harpers Ferry in the late 1850s.