7083 - Iwo Jima: John H. Bradley and Rene Gagnon Signed Poster (9″ x 12.75″)

Iwo Jima: John H. Bradley and Rene Gagnon Signed Poster (9″ x 12.75″) Official color 9 x 12.75 U.S. Treasury poster issued for the 7th War Loan drive, featuring artwork of the Iwo Jima flag-raising, signed in blue ink by John H. Bradley, and in black ink by Rene Gagnon. In fine condition, with a central horizontal fold. Three of the six Marines in Joe Rosenthal’s Iwo Jima photograph—Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, and Pfc. Franklin Sousley—were killed in action during the battle; Block was misidentified as Sgt. Henry O. Hansen until January 1947. The remaining three were Pfcs. Ira Hayes and Harold Schultz and Cpl. Harold Keller. A 2016 Marine Corps review determined that the figure long identified as PhM2c John Bradley was Sousley, while Schultz occupied the position previously attributed to Sousley; in 2019, a subsequent Marine Corps investigation identified Keller in the position long attributed to Pfc. Rene Gagnon. Neither signer of this poster is now held to appear in Rosenthal’s photograph: Bradley assisted with the first flag raising earlier that day, while Gagnon carried the replacement flag up Mount Suribachi. Believed at the time to be among the surviving men pictured, Bradley and Gagnon joined Hayes in returning to the United States to promote the 7th War Loan campaign.