1945 Pulitzer Prize for Photography
Courtesy Associated Press
U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in the South Pacific, February 23, 1945.
Photo by Joe Rosenthal.

Rosenthal took an indelible photograph of World War II when he photographed the Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. Ironically, the U.S. Army and Navy had rejected him as a military photographer because of his impaired eyesight. He covered war in the Pacific for the Associated Press. On Iwo Jima, he shot the flag-raising photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize. However, the image generated controversy because the flag replaced a smaller flag that had been raised earlier. Some argued that the event was staged for the camera. Repeatedly, Rosenthal explained that it was not. His career began in San Francisco with the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He served as chief photographer and manager for Times Wide World Photos before it was taken over by the AP. After the war, Rosenthal became a photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
[Source: "Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs" Catalog]