Joe Rosenthal, whose famous photograph of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima caught the imagination of the nation, died on Sunday, Sept. 27, at the age of 94 in Novato, Calif. A modest man and hard-working Associated Press photographer, he was 33 years old when he went ashore with a wave of young Marines on Iwo Jima island. "Raising Old Glory on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima," is the great iconic photograph to come out of WWII. Handing his film off and going back into battle, Rosenthal didn't know what all the fuss was about when he was congratulated on his photograph. The image went on to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize and to be praised, questioned, reprinted, painted, cast and sculpted.

There will be a United States Marine Corps Tribute Ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2006. A memorial mass will be held on Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. in St. Emydius church, also in San Francisco. See: http://www.marineclub.com and http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/parishes/stemydius.html.

The staff of TDJ has written about Joe Rosenthal in many contexts. Please see David Friend's article, "A Flag for Rosenthal," Marianne Fulton's book review of Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue,this month's review of Friend's Watching the World Change and Dirck Halstead's "Editorial." Also see the N.P.P.A. site for a complete obituary.