Henry Hansen

Henry Hanson, 1944

**Henry Oliver Hansen** (December 14, 1919 – March 1, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945, before getting killed six days later. The first flag flown over the southern 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, where the Imperial Japanese airfields and most of their troops were located, so it was replaced the same day with a larger flag. Although there were photographs taken of the first flag flying on Mount Suribachi and some which include Hansen, there is no photograph of Marines raising the first flag and he was also photographed near the second flag.

The second flag-raising by six Marines was photographed by Associated Press combat photographer Joe Rosenthal and became famous after copies of his photograph appeared in the newspapers two days later. He was incorrectly identified in Rosenthal's flag-raising photograph as the Marine at the base of the flagstaff until the Marine Corps announced in January 1947 after an investigation which was initiated by one of the flag-raisers, that Corporal Harlon Block was that Marine.

## Biography

Hansen was born on December 14, 1919 in Somerville, Massachusetts, with one sister and three brothers. He graduated from Somerville High School in 1938 and joined the US Marines at age 18 and trained as a Paramarine. After the Paramarines disbanded in February 1944, Hansen was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division.

## Iwo Jima

Sgt. Hansen was a member of 3rd Platoon of E Company of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division that landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. On February 23, he was one of members of the 40-man patrol led by 1st Lt. Harold Schrier who climbed Mount Suribachi and raised the first American flag on top of it and were photographed by Marine Corps photographer Lou Lowery. The flag and flagstaff was later replaced hours later that day with a larger flag and heavier flagstaff by five Marines from Second Platoon and Navy corpsman John Bradley from 3rd Platoon. The photograph of the second flag raising by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press became world famous.

Henry was killed in action on Iwo Jima on March 1 nine months before his 26th birthday. He along with Platoon Sgt. Thomas, and the three second flag-raisers who were killed on Iwo Jima were buried in the 5th Marine Division cemetery on the island.

## The Error

There became a disagreement after the battle over the identity of the Marine at the base of the 2nd flagpole in the famous photograph of the second flag-raising. Surviving second flag-raisers of the battle, Rene Gagnon and Bradley, had initially identified this person as Hansen. Over a year and a half later, a Congressional investigation revealed that the Marine was actually Harlon Block and not Hansen. Ira Hayes, the other surviving second flag-raiser, was instrumental in proving Block's presence in the famous photo. In fact, Ira Hayes had originally told a Marine officer that the flag raiser was really Block, but as the Marines had already made public announcements that Hansen had been identified as a second flag-raiser, Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley were told to say nothing.

## Corrections

A Marine Corps investigation of the identities of the six second flag-raisers began in December 1946 and concluded in January 1947 that it was Cpl. Block and not Sgt. Hansen at the base of the flagstaff in the Rosenthal photograph, and that no blame was to be placed on anyone in this matter. The identities of the other five second flag-raisers were confirmed.

The Marine Corps review board looked once more into the identities of the six second flag-raisers in Rosenthal's photograph, this time concluding in June 2016 that Harold Schultz was in the photograph and John Bradley was not. Franklin Sousley, not Schultz, is now in the position initially ascribed to Bradley (fourth from left) in the photograph and Schultz is now in Sousley's former position (second from left) in the photograph. The identities of the other five flag-raisers were confirmed. Schultz did not ever say publicly that he was a flag-raiser or in the photograph.

## Legacy

Sgt. Hansen is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific near Honolulu on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The Henry O. Hansen Memorial Park, in his home town of Somerville, was named in his honor in June 2004.