| Birth: | Nov. 6, 1924
Yorktown
DeWitt County
Texas, USA | | Death: | Mar. 1, 1945
Iwo Jima, Japan | 
Iwo Jima Flag Raiser. During the Battle for Iwo Jima he was a USMC Corporal assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, and one of six men who were immortalized in Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's photo of the US Flag raising on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, just after noon on February 23, 1945, for which Rosenthal was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The six men were Corporal Harlon Block, Private Rene Gagnon, Private Ira Hayes, Private Franklin Sousley, Sergeant Mike Strank, and US Navy Corpsman John Bradley. Initially CPL Block was mistakenly identified as SGT Henry Hansen, who was also on the mountaintop, but two years after the photo was taken, Block's participation in the second photo was confirmed; occasionally Hansen is still listed as a participant. Author James Bradley described his life's story in the bestseller, "Flags of Our Fathers" (2000). The flag in the famous photo is the second US flag raised over Mount Suribachi; the first flag was raised there at 10:20 am by Sergeant Henry Hansen, Platoon Sergeant Eugene Thomas, Corpsman John Bradley, Private Philip Ward, Private James Michels and Corporal Chuck Lindberg, and photographed by Sergeant Lou Lowery. Corpsman John Bradley is the only one in both flag raising photos. Born the second son of six children of Ed and Ada Belle Brantley Block, a farming family in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, near where the Rio Grande River emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. He was raised in his mother's faith as a Seventh Day Adventist, with their belief "Thou Shall Not Kill" making many of them conscientious objectors. A natural athlete, he played on the football team until his graduation from Weslaco High School in June 1942. Immediately following graduation, Harlon and 12 other HS football players all enlisted together into the Marine Corps. Following assignment to San Diego, Harlon volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and became parachute qualified in May 1943. Shortly afterwards, he fought at Bougainville with the 3rd Marine Division. Following Bougainville and a 30-day leave, he was reassigned to the newly forming 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, and slated for the upcoming invasion of Iwo Jima. In his squad were SGT Strank, PFC Hayes and PFC Sousley. The Invasion of 70,000 marines landed on February 19, 1945, on the south side of the island, with Strank landing at Green Beach, closest to Mount Suribachi. On the fourth day of the invasion, the Marines captured Mount Suribachi and raised the American flag. Following the death of Sergeant Mike Strank on March 1, Harlon took over the squad and continued the battle on the western end of the island. Harlon was killed in action later that same day, by another enemy mortar shell. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
Search Amazon for Harlon Block | | | Burial:
Marine Military Academy
Harlingen
Cameron County
Texas, USA
Plot: At the base of the flag raising sculpture |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Oct 27, 2000
Find A Grave Memorial# 18154 |
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