A 40-man combat patrol, led by 1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier, was the first American unit to reach the summit of Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23. These men were from the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, and they carried with them a U.S. flag taken from the USS Missoula, a tank transport ship that delivered troops and cargo to Iwo Jima. Earlier, Schrier had been handed the flag by his batallion’s adjutant and was told, “If you get to the top, put it up.”The flag from the USS Missoula was raised by Schrier and two other Marines at around 10:30 a.m. local time.
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