Joe Rosenthal's photo of U.S. Marines raising the flag over Mt. Surabachi on Iwo Jima, Feb. 23, 1945 (Rosenthal/AP)

Smoke, fire, and death captured by Joe during the Iwo Jima invasion (Rosenthal/AP)

Marines hit the beach under heavy fire on Iwo Jima. Joe Rosenthal made several of these landings and lived to tell about it. (Rosenthal/AP)

Marines land on Iwo Jima (Rosenthal/AP)

Two dead Marines on the sands of Iwo Jima (Rosenthal/AP)

Dead Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima (Rosenthal/AP)

U.S. Corpsmen carry a wounded Marine on a stretcher to an evacuation boat on the beach at Iwo Jima while other Marines huddle in a foxhole during invasion of the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima (Rosenthal/AP)

Marines pass the covered bodies of dead comrades (Rosenthal/AP)

Marines receive communion on Iwo Jima (Rosenthal/AP)

Joe takes a photos of the Marines with the raised flag. Because of his diminutive stature, Joe had to stand on sands backs to get the shot! (AP)

U.S. Marines after raising the flag on Iwo Jima. At the time Joe Rosenthal thought this was his best shot before he realized he had captured the iconic raising of the flag. His comments to a reporter about "posing the picture" were misinterpreted to mean this one, not the raising itself. He did not influence the actual flag raising itself, that would have happened whether he was there or not. (Rosenthal/AP)

Joe Rosenthal atop Mt. Surabachi after making his famous photo. In the background are dozens of ships that participated in the operation (AP)

Joe Rosenthal holds a copy of his famous photo in front of his San Francisco apartment in 2000 (Kennerly)