Harlon Block

Harlon Block
Marine Corps recruit photo of Block in 1943
Born	Harlon Henry Block (1924-11-06)November 6, 1924 Yorktown, Texas, U.S.
Died	March 1, 1945(1945-03-01) (aged 20) Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan
Buried	5th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima 1949: Weslaco Cemetery, Weslaco, Texas 1995: Marine Military Academy, Harlingen, Texas
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Marine Corps
Service years	1943–1945
Rank	Corporal
Unit	E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division
Conflicts	World War II Bougainville Campaign Consolidation of the Northern Solomons Battle of Iwo Jima  †
Awards	Purple Heart Medal Combat Action Ribbon

Harlon Henry Block (November 6, 1924 – March 1, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps corporal who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

Born in Yorktown, Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps with seven high school classmates in February 1943. He subsequently became a Paramarine and participated in combat on Bougainville. After the Paramarines were disbanded in 1944, he was one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal.

The first flag raised over Mount Suribachi at the south end of Iwo Jima was deemed too small. Later that day, Block, a rifleman in the 5th Marine Division, was ordered up the mountain with three Marines to raise a larger flag. The second flag-raising photograph was an AP wirephoto that was widely reproduced and became famous. The second flag raising was also filmed in color.

Block was not recognized as one of the second flag-raisers until the Marine Corps announced in January 1947 (after an investigation) that he was in the photograph and Sergeant Henry Hansen was not. Block is one of three Marines in the photograph who were not originally identified as flag raisers.

The Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, was modeled after Rosenthal's photograph of six Marines raising the second flag on Iwo Jima.

Early life

Block was born in Yorktown, Texas, the third of six children to Edward Frederick Block (1896–1968) and Ada Belle Brantley (1896–1980), a Seventh day-Adventist family. The Block children were: Edward Jr., Maurine, Harlon, Larry, Corky, and Melford. Edward Frederick Block was a World War I veteran and supported his family by working as a dairy farmer. In hopes of improving the family, the Block family relocated to Weslaco, Texas, a city located in the Rio Grande Valley. His father became a dairy farmer, and the children attended a Seventh-day Adventist private school. Harlon Block was expelled in his freshman year when he refused to tell the principal which student had vandalized the school. Block then transferred to Weslaco High School and was remembered as an outgoing student with many friends. A natural athlete, Block led the Weslaco Panther Football Team to the Conference Championship. He was honored as "All South Texas End". Block and seven of his high school friends decided on joining the Marine Corps before they graduated and the school held a special early graduation ceremony for them in January 1943.