Louis R. Lowery

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Birth: Jul. 24, 1916 Pittsburgh Allegheny County Pennsylvania, USA

Death: Apr. 15, 1987 Fairfax Fairfax City Virginia, USA

United States Marine Corps Sergeant. Combat photographer. He photographed the raising of the first American Flag on Mount Surabachi on Iwo Jima on February 23. 1945. This flag was later replaced by the flag in the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press. (bio by: Erik Lander)

Burial: Quantico National Cemetery Quantico Prince William County Virginia, USA Plot: Section 1 Grave 6422

Maintained by: Find A Grave Originally Created by: Erik Lander Record added: Mar 01, 2002 Find A Grave Memorial# 6229067

Louis R. "Lou" Lowery (July 24, 1916 – April 15, 1987) was a retired United States Marine Corps photographer best known for taking the first photographs of the first American flag that was flown on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. The flag was too small to be seen easily from the nearby landing beaches on Iwo Jima, so a second, larger replacement flag with a longer and heavier pipe was planted hours later resulting in the famous photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1945.

Lowery was the founder and former president of the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association (USMCCCA). He also was a photographic director of Leatherneck Magazine, a publication of the Marine Corps. He died on April 15, 1987 at age 70 from aplastic anemia and is buried in Quantico National Cemetery in Prince William County, Virginia. In 2006, Lowery was portrayed by actor David Hornsby in film Flags of Our Fathers.

On February 23, 1945, Lowery accompanied the 40-man Marine combat patrol that climbed Mount Suribachi to attack and capture the mountaintop, and raise the American flag if possible to signal that it was captured. After the mountaintop was captured and secure, 1st Lt. Harold Schrier, Sgt. Ernest Thomas, and Sgt. Henry Hansen, members of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, raised the first American flag (two flags were raised on Mount Suribachi) on Mount Suribachi that morning, according to Sgt. Thomas who did a press interview aboard the flagship USS Eldorado on February 25, 1945.

Immediately after the flag was raised, a short firefight took place after Japanese soldiers came out of a cave. An enemy grenade was tossed, and Lowery fell several feet down the side of the crater from the blast. Although his camera was damaged, he saved his film. Lt. Schrier, a former platoon sergeant on Guadacanal and Marine Raider officer, was awarded a Navy Cross for leading the 40-man patrol up Mount Suribachi and raising the flag. Sgt. Thomas (Navy Cross), a former drill instructor, and Sgt. Hansen, a former Paramarine on Bougainville, were both killed in action on Iwo Jima after the flag raising.

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