On Friday morning, February 23, 1945, four days after the Marines landed at Iwo Jima, Rosenthal hurried toward Suribachi, lugging along his bulky Speed Graphic camera when he heard that an American flag was being raised atop Mount Suribachi.
Upon landing, Rosenthal hurried toward Suribachi, lugging along his bulky Speed Graphic camera, the standard for press photographers at the time. On Friday morning, February 23, 1945, four days after the Marines landed at Iwo Jima, Rosenthal was making his daily visit to the island on a Marine landing craft when he heard that an American flag was being raised atop Mount Suribachi, a volcano at the southern tip of the island. 
