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Author says he now thinks father wasn’t Iwo Jima flag-raiser

FILE - In this Feb 23, 1945 file photo, U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. The Marine Corps said Monday, May 2, 2016, that it has begun investigating whether it mistakenly identified one of the men shown raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima in one of the iconic images of World War II after two amateur history buffs began raising questions about the picture. The Marines announced its inquiry more than a year after Eric Krelle, a toy designer from Omaha, Neb., and Stephen Foley, who works at a building supply company in Wexford, Ireland, questioned the identity of one man. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal, File) FILE - In this Feb 23, 1945 file photo, U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. The Marine Corps said Monday, May 2, 2016, that it has begun investigating whether it mistakenly identified one of the men shown raising the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima in one of the iconic images of World War II after two amateur history buffs began raising questions about the picture. The Marines announced its inquiry more than a year after Eric Krelle, a toy designer from Omaha, Neb., and Stephen Foley, who works at a building supply company in Wexford, Ireland, questioned the identity of one man. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal, File)

By Associated Press May 3, 2016 1 min read

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The author of a book about his father and other men who raised a U.S. flag at Iwo Jima during World War II says he no longer believes his father was in an iconic photograph of the event.

“Flags of Our Fathers” author James Bradley said Tuesday that questions raised by two amateur historians prompted him to recall comments his father, John Bradley, made about the event. He says he now believes his father participated in an earlier flag-raising, but not the one captured in the famous picture.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal shot the photo on Feb. 23, 1945.

Since 1947, the Marines identified the flag raisers as John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Harlon Block, Michael Strank and Franklin Sousley. Two history buffs argue Bradley wasn’t shown and Marine Harold Henry Schultz was there. The Marines are investigating.