1. Michael Strank was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
26 Facts About Michael Strank
1. 2.
Michael Strank was one of the Marines who raised the second US flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23,1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal.
3.
Michael Strank was born in a Rusyn family in the Presov village of Orjabyna in Czechoslovakia, Presov Region of northeastern Czechoslovakia.
4.
Michael Strank's two brothers, Petro and John, and his sister Mary were born in the United States to Vasil Strenk and Marta Grofikova, Rusyn immigrants.
5.
Vasil Michael Strank moved to Franklin Borough, found work in the coal mines for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and brought his family to Pennsylvania three years later, when he could pay for their voyage.
6.
Michael Strank attended the public schools of Franklin Borough and graduated from Franklin Borough High School in 1937.
7.
Michael Strank joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, served for 18 months, and afterwards became a Pennsylvania state highway laborer.
8.
Michael Strank enlisted in the Marine Corps at Pittsburgh for four years service on October 6,1939.
9.
Michael Strank was assigned to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina.
10.
Michael Strank completed recruit training in December and was transferred to Headquarters Company, Post Troop and then to Provisional Company W at Parris Island, on January 17,1941.
11.
Private First Class Michael Strank sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arriving on January 23,1941.
12.
Michael Strank was reassigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade.
13.
Michael Strank was promoted to corporal on April 23,1941.
14.
Michael Strank moved with the 1st Marine Division to New River, which is where he was stationed when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred.
15.
Michael Strank participated in the unopposed landing operations and occupation of Pavuvu in the Russell Islands from February 21 to March 18,1943.
16.
Michael Strank was sent to San Diego and allowed a leave to visit his family.
17.
Michael Strank returned to duty in San Diego and was assigned to Second Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, as a squad leader.
18.
Michael Strank was sent to Hawaii with his unit after extensive training, and began more training and preparation for the invasion of Iwo Jima.
19.
Michael Strank took part in the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, amphibious assault landing on Green Beach at the southern part of Iwo Jima near Mount Suribachi on February 19,1945.
20.
Michael Strank to ascend Mount Suribachi with three Marines from his rifle squad in Second Platoon and raise the replacement flag.
21.
Michael Strank then ordered Corporal Harlon Block, Private First Class Ira Hayes, and Private First Class Franklin Sousley to go with him up Mount Suribachi with communication wire.
22.
Michael Strank is depicted as the fourth bronze figure from the base of the flagstaff on the memorial with the 32-foot bronze figures of the other five flag raisers depicted on the memorial.
23.
In 2008, Gunnery Sergeant Matt Blais, who was a Marine security guard in the American Embassy in Slovakia, discovered that Michael Strank was not a natural-born US citizen.
24.
Michael Strank had become a US citizen after his father's naturalization in 1935, but had never received official documentation.
25.
Michael Strank is prominently featured in the 2006 movie Flags of Our Fathers.
26.
Michael Strank called "Chlapec, ktory chcel byt prezidentom".