Harold Paul Keller (August 3, 1921 – March 13, 1979) was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Bougainville campaign in World War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He is one of the six Marines who raised the larger replacement flag on the mountaintop the same day as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
The first flag flown over Mount Suribachi at the south end of Iwo Jima was regarded to be too small to be seen by the thousands of Marines fighting on the other side of the mountain, so it was replaced by the second one. Although there were photographs taken of the first flag flying on Mount Suribachi, there is no photograph of Marines raising the first flag. The second flag raising became famous and took precedence over the first flag-raising after copies of the second flag-raising photograph appeared in newspapers two days later. The second flag raising was also filmed in color.
Keller was not recognized as one of the second flag-raisers until the Marine Corps announced on October 16, 2019, after an investigation, that he was in the historic photograph taken by combat photographer Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press. The Marine Corps also stated that Keller was incorrectly identified as Private First Class Rene Gagnon in the photograph, who they determined is not in the photo. Keller is one of three Marines in the photograph who were not originally identified as flag raisers.
The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, is modeled after the photograph of six Marines raising the second flag on Iwo Jima.
U.S. Marine Corps
Harold Keller was born on August 3, 1921, in Brooklyn, Iowa. Keller graduated from Brooklyn High School. On January 2, 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended training at Camp Elliott in San Diego and later training in Honolulu, Hawaii. Keller was assigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and was present for the Battle of Midway and took part in the fighting at Guadalcanal. In 1943, Keller was shot through his right shoulder at Bougainville.
In February 1944, the Marine Raiders were disbanded. Keller met and subsequently married his wife, Ruby O'Halloran, while he was home on leave. Keller was next assigned to Easy (E) Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division which was activated at Camp Pendleton in 1944. In September, the division was sent to Camp Tarawa near Hilo, Hawaii, for further training to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. In January 1945, the division left Hawaii and sailed for Iwo Jima. Keller participated in the battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February 19 and ended on March 26. On February 23, he was part of the 40-man patrol that ascended Mount Suribachi and raised the Second Battalion's flag on top. Later that day, he was one of the six Marines that raised a second and larger flag on top.
First flag raising
At 8:00 am on February 23, 1945, Lt. Colonel Chandler W. Johnson, the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, commander, ordered a platoon-size patrol to climb up Mount Suribachi to seize and occupy the crest. Captain Dave Severance, E Company's commander, then assembled the remainder of his Third Platoon and other members of the battalion which included two Navy corpsmen and stretcher bearers. First Lieutenant Harold Schrier, E Company's executive officer, who volunteered to lead the patrol, was to raise the battalion's American flag if possible to signal that the mountaintop was secure. The patrol left at about 8:30. Along the way up which was difficult climbing at times, there was a small number of shots from Japanese snipers. When Lt. Schrier and his men reached the rim of the volcano, there was a skirmish which they soon overcame. After a Japanese iron water pipe was found to use as a flagpole, the battalion's American flag was tied to it by Lt. Schrier, Sergeant Henry Hansen, and Corporal Charles Lindberg.