[PapaNew]

Really - so it was an impromptu raising of a replacement flag and a photographer just happened to be in the right place at the right time? What happened to the original flag?

[Homer_J_Simpson]

No, it was not an impromptu flag raising and Rosenthal did not just happen to be there. The Marine regimental CO wanted to reclaim the original flag so a reinforced platoon was sent up Suribachi with a larger flag to take its place. Rosenthal was going to abandon his trip to the top after the first flag was raised but decided to carry on regardless. He got there in time for flag raising #2.

As I said once before, this is all in the excerpt from "Flags of our Fathers" I posted on February 23.