The Japanese garrison on the summit had been reduced by the fighting.

Some had escaped through the tunnel system that honeycombed the mountain.

When the patrol reached the summit, they found a length of Japanese pipe and, using a small American flag carried by a member of the patrol, raised it at 10:20 a.m. on February 23, 1945.

This was the first flag raising on Mount Suribachi.

Marines on the beach and on ships offshore saw the flag and cheered.

It was a visible symbol of progress in fighting that had been savage and costly and had so far offered few visible markers of achievement.