John Bradley ( United States Navy ) John Henry " Jack " " Doc " Bradley ( July 10 , 1923 – January 11 , 1994 ) was a United States Navy corpsman during World War II . He partook twice in raising the Flag on Iwo Jima . He helped secure the flagstaff in the soft ground for the first American flag raised and helped five Marines raise the second larger replacement American flag with a longer and heavier flagstaff on top of Mount Suribachi on February 23 , 1945 . He was the last surviving member of the second flag - raising . Early years . Born John Henry Bradley in Antigo , Wisconsin to James ( " Cabbage " ) and Kathryn Bradley , he was the second of five children . He grew up in Appleton , Wisconsin , and reportedly had an interest in entering the funeral business from an early age and finished an apprenticeship with a funeral director before entering military service . Bradley joined the U . S . Navy at 19 , after his father suggested to him that he enlist in the Navy so he could avoid ground combat ; however , the Navy chose him to become a Pharmacist ' s Mate and he was eventually assigned to the United States Marine Corps . While serving with a Marine rifle company as a platoon corpsman , he took part in the assault on Iwo Jima in 1945 , one of the most bitterly fought battles of the Pacific War ' s island - hopping campaign . World War II . In March 1943 , he began his Navy hospital corpsman training after basic training and was initially stationed at the U . S . Naval Hospital in Oakland . He was assigned to the Marine Corps Fleet Marine Force and sent to a " field medical service school " . Afterwards , he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion , 28th Marines , of the 5th Marine Division , a newly activated infantry division which was being formed at Camp Pendleton , California . In May and June 1945 , Bradley still recovering from his leg wounds , participated with two second American flag - raisers , Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon , in the Seventh War Loan Drive held in several American cities that raised over $ 26 billion to help win the war . The three other second American flag - raisers , Sgt . Strank , Cpl . Block , and Pfc . Sousley , were killed on Iwo Jima after the flag raising on Mount Suribachi . Bradley was medically discharged from the Navy in November , 1945 . Military decorations and awards . Navy Cross citation . Bradley ' s family did not learn about the decoration until after his death . Bradley married his childhood sweetheart , Betty Van Gorp , settled down in Antigo , had eight children , and was active in numerous civic clubs . He rarely took part in ceremonies celebrating the flag raising , and by the 1960s avoided them altogether . He fulfilled his lifelong dream by buying and managing his own funeral parlor , but was tormented by memories of the war . Betty says he wept in his sleep for the first four years of their marriage and kept a large knife in a dresser drawer for " protection " . He also had many flashbacks of his best friend Iggy , Ralph Ignatowski , who was captured and tortured by Japanese soldiers . Bradley never could forgive himself for not being there to try and save his friend ' s life . He rarely spoke of the raising of the flag , stating once that he " just happened to be there " . His son James Bradley speculated that his father ' s determined silence and discomfort on the subject of his role in the Battle of Iwo Jima was largely due to memories of Bradley ' s wartime buddy , Marine Ralph " Iggy " Ignatowski . In his own words , and only once , he briefly told his son what happened with " Iggy " : Post - war life and death . Official reports revealed Ignatowski was captured , dragged into a tunnel by Japanese soldiers during the battle , and was later found with his eyes , ears , fingernails , and tongue removed , his teeth smashed , the back of his head caved in , multiple bayonet wounds to the abdomen , and his arms broken . Bradley ' s recollections of discovering and taking care of Ignatowski ' s remains haunted him until his death , and he suffered for many years from post - traumatic stress disorder . Bradley rarely spoke of the flag raising , having seen it as an insignificant event in a devastating battle . He rarely talked to people about it and spent most of his life trying to escape the attention he drew from raising it . Bradley only spoke to his wife once about the raising during their 47 year marriage . That was on their first date , and he seemed very uninterested with it during the conversation . His daughter Barbara said that “ Reading a book on Iwo Jima at home would have been like reading a playgirl magazine … it would have been something I had to hide . ” He told his children more than once that the only real heroes on Iwo Jima were those that did not survive . Bradley never told his family that he received the Navy Cross , and they only found out after his death . Bradley refused to talk to reporters and avoided them at all costs . Throughout his life , the press would contact his home to ask for interviews and he trained his wife and children to give excuses such as he “ was on a fishing trip in Canada . ” Even during the filming of the movie the " Sands of Iwo Jima " in 1949 , Bradley told his wife to tell the townspeople that he was “ on a business trip ” in order to avoid attention that would be drawn to him . ” Despite his reluctance to talk to the media , family , and friends about the incident , he told his parents in a letter shortly after the battle that raising the flag was “ the happiest moment of my life . ” In 1985 , Bradley gave his only taped interview at the urging of his wife , who had told him to do it for the sake of their grandchildren . During that interview , Bradley said he would not have raised the flag if he would have known how famous the photo would have become . He stated that he did not want to live with the pressures of the media and desired to live a normal life . He also stated , during the interview , that anyone on the island could have raised the flag and that he was just there at the right time . Bradley had a heart attack , but died of a stroke at 2 : 12 am in an Antigo hospital on January 11 , 1994 , at the age of 70 , the last to die of the six servicemen who had raised the second flag . He is buried in Queen of Peace Cemetery , Antigo , Wisconsin .