Joe Rosenthal was on his way up the mountain with two other photographers when he encountered Marines coming back down.

They told him that a flag had already been raised.

He continued up anyway, unsure of what he’d find.

He arrived near the summit as the second group was preparing to raise the larger flag.

He almost walked past.

He scrambled to position himself on a mound of rubble nearby, raising himself enough to shoot over the heads of the Marines.

The pole with the flag attached went up.