Conemaugh Marine who helped raise Flag at Iwo Jima honored With Hall of Fame induction

Mike Strank
b. 1919 Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia.
d. 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan

It was Mike who got the order to climb Mt. Suribachi. Mike picked his "boys" and led them safely to the top. Mike explained to the boys that the larger flag had to be raised so that "every Marine on this cruddy island can see it." It was Mike who gave the orders to find a pole, attach the flag and "put'er up!"

At home as a boy, Mike was studious, had a photographic memory, played the French Horn and once slugged a baseball out of Points Stadium in Johnstown. In 1936, Mike ran down to the river to see for himself the terrible Johnstown flood. He brought this report back to his family: "Don't worry--it will recede."

Mike's right hand is the only hand of a flagraiser not on the pole. His right hand is around the wrist of Franklin Sousley, helping the younger man push the heavy pole. This is typical of Mike, the oldest of the flagraisers, always there to help one of his boys. Two months before the battle Mike's Captain tried to promote him but Mike turned it down flat: "I trained those boys and I'm going to be with them in battle," he said.

Mike died on March 1, 1945. He was hit by a mortar as he was diagramming a plan in the sand for his boys. Mike is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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Conemaugh Marine who helped raise Flag at Iwo Jima honored With Hall of Fame induction

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa., July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Marine Sgt. Michael Strank, who helped to raise the American flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in 1945, was posthumously inducted into the Hollidaysburg Veterans Home Hall of Fame during a ceremony today.

"It is an honor to recognize a veteran such as Sgt. Strank, who has secured a place in American history through his participation in the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II," said David J. Langguth, commandant of the home.

"Sgt. Strank already has been immortalized in the famous bronze sculpture located in our nation's capitol and, today, we are proud to memorialize him with this induction into our Hall of Fame."

Strank was 25 years old when, as a member of the 2ndBattalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, he landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945.

Strank was one of six American servicemen who became world famous when they were photographed hoisting the American flag at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

The historic moment is immortalized in a bronze sculpture in Washington D.C. that weighs 100 tons and reaches a height of 110 feet. The hoisting of the flag and events surrounding the lives of Strank and the others who raised it were the subject of a book published in 2000 and a Hollywood movie made by Clint Eastwood six years later. Both the book and movie were titled "Flags of Our Fathers."

Born in Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia, Strank lived in Conemaugh prior to beginning his service in 1939. He was killed by enemy artillery fire in northern Iwo Jima on March 1, 1945, just 10 days after helping to hoist the flag.

Strank is a recipient of the following decorations and medals: the Bronze Star; the Purple Heart; the Presidential Unit Citation with one star; the American Defense Service Medal with base clasp; the American Campaign Medal; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four stars; and the World War II Victory Medal.

Members of the Conemaugh Valley Marine Corps League Detachment participated in today's ceremony.

Each of the state's six veterans' homes, operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, has a Hall of Fame to recognize and honor the military achievements of outstanding veterans who have completed honorable, active-duty military service and who live or who have lived in the region served by the veterans' home.

The Hollidaysburg Veterans Home is under the direction of Commandant David J. Langguth and is the largest of the state's six veterans' homes, with beds for 514 eligible veterans and their spouses.