Slovak-American World War II Hero Awarded U.S. Citizenship

July 31, 2008

Marine Platoon Sgt. Michael Strank, a native Slovak who gained international fame as one of six U.S. servicemen photographed raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima, has been posthumously awarded a certificate of U.S. citizenship. Although Strank, who was born in Jarabina and immigrated to America in 1922, became a U.S. citizen in 1935 when his father was naturalized, he never received a certificate of citizenship, as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services previously believed he was born in Pennsylvania. The long-overdue certificate was presented to Strank’s younger sister, Mary Pero, in a July 29 ceremony held in front of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington Cemetery that bears his likeness. Strank had served in the U.S. Marines for over five years when the famous photograph, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” by Joe Rosenthal appeared on February 19, 1945. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima less than two weeks after the Rosenthal photo, now the most copied photograph in history, was taken.