Harlon block
Harlon Henry Block (born November 6, 1924 in Yorktown , United States - † March 1, 1945 in Iwojima , Japan ) was an American soldier of World War II and one of the Marines featured in the famous photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima you can see.
Life
Harlon Block was born in the city of Yorktown, Hidalgo County , Texas, to a Seventh-day Adventist family. His father fought as a soldier in World War I and earned his living as a farmer.
Harlon Block signed up for service with the U.S. Marine Corps in January 1943 with a few high school friends . After completing his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego , he was trained as a paratrooper at the Marine Parachute Training School . With the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment he came to New Caledonia in November 1943 before landing on Bougainville in December . There he was involved in the fight against the Japanese defenders. In February 1944 he returned to the USA, was transferred to the E-Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment of the 5th Marine Division and was promoted to corporal . On February 19, 1945 he landed with this unit on Iwo Jima and took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima . On February 23, he and five other comrades from his company hoisted an American flag on the Suribachi volcano after the Marines had already hoisted their first flag there. Photographer Joe Rosenthal photographed the flag being raised. The recording became world famous as Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima . Block fell on March 1, 1945, according to a comrade, by the same projectile from an American warship that killed the flagraiser Michael Strank . He was first buried with other fallen soldiers of the 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima, later transferred to Weslaco , Texas in 1949 and finally buried in 1995 in the cemetery of the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen .
Since initially neither the names nor the exact number of those involved in the photo was clear, he was not immediately identified as a flagraiser and thus not withdrawn from the battle. Due to a mix-up, Henry "Hank" Hanson, who also fell on Iwo Jima, was named as the flagraiser instead. It is true that it was mainly Ira Hayes who drew the attention of those responsible to this, but because of the seventh war loan that was already underway, they did not want to rectify this immediately in public. It was only after the war that Hayes was able to clear up the mix-up by hitchhiking 2,000 kilometers to the Blocks' farm and, to the great gratitude of the family, corrected the matter there.
Block's contribution to the raising of the flag was later u. a. documented in the films You Were Our Comrade and Flags of Our Fathers .
Awards
- Presidential Unit Citation
- Purple heart
- American Campaign Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Parachutist badge
- Rifle Sharpshooter Badge
- Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal
There is a Harlon block exhibition at the Weslaco Museum in Texas. There is also a Harlon Block Memorial and the Harlon Block Sports Complex.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry on Harlon Block in The Handbook of Texas Online
- ↑ IWO JIMA SURVIVOR RECALLS THE BLOODY WAR
- ↑ Harlon Block in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved July 2, 2017.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Block, Harlon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Block, Harlon Henry (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | World War II American soldier and one of the Marines |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 6, 1924 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Yorktown , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 1, 1945 |
| Place of death | on Iwojima , Japan |