Rosenthal saw the moment coming, calculated his angle, pressed the shutter.

He wasn’t sure he had gotten it.

He shot a second picture — a posed group shot of the Marines waving and cheering — which he was certain was a good image.

He sent both frames back to Guam for processing without having seen either one.

The photograph that came back from the darkroom was the candid shot.

The one he almost missed.

Within days, it was everywhere.