Iwo Jima flag raiser dies

With last year's duel Iwo Jima movies, Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima being released last year, the US Marines' flag-raising on Mount Suribachi is again in the public eye.

But there is some sad news this afternoon. One of the original flag raisers has passed away.

From the Grand Forks Herald:

Charles W. Lindberg, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the first American flag over Iwo Jima during World War II, has died. He was 86.

Originally from Grand Forks, Lindberg died Sunday at Fairview Southdale hospital in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, said John Pose, director of the Morris Nilsen Funeral Home in Richfield, which is handling Lindberg's funeral.

Lindberg spent decades explaining that it was his patrol, not the one captured in the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal, that raised the first flag over the island.

Charles Lindberg is the last survivor of two teams of six marines who raised the first and second flags Feb. 23, 1945 on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, has died at the age of 86.

Lindberg won the Silver Star for his bravery.

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