ARLINGTON, Va. — A seven-decade oversight involving a local man who helped raise the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima has been corrected.
Immigration authorities on Tuesday presented a posthumous certificate of citizenship to Marine Sgt. Michael Strank of Franklin Borough.
Strank was born in Czechoslovakia and came to the U.S. in 1922 at age 3. He was naturalized in 1935, when his father became a citizen, but immigration authorities never presented Strank his papers.
Strank’s involvement in the flag-raising would have been lost to the ages if not for the lens of photographer Joe Rosenthal.
Instead, Strank’s actions were immortalized in the famous flag-raising photo and eventually the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Tribune-Democrat reprinted the story of Cpl. Ira Hayes after his death in 1955. Hayes was one of the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi along with Strank.
According to Hayes, “When we got to the western side, one of the men noticed men on top of the volcano. Then all of a sudden we saw a flag go up. It was pretty small, and I could hardly make it out.
“Then our company commander sent for Sgt. Mike Strank, my squad leader. ... We got halfway up and took a break. Mike had a bulge in his jacket, and one of the fellows asked him what it was.
“He grinned back and showed us a flag and told us we were going to plant a large flag in place of the little one so the whole island could know the 28th had secured Suribachi.
“The idea was to keep a flag up all the time, so a couple of men lowered the small flag, and then we raised the large one. Then we tied it down.
“Then a Marine hollered over to us and said our picture was taken. About 20 yards away, we saw Joe Rosenthal and a couple of others. We didn’t know they were taking our picture.”
Strank died just days later during combat on Iwo Jima. He was 25.
A bridge connecting Franklin and East Conemaugh boroughs is named the Sergeant Michael Strank Memorial Bridge in his honor.
At Tuesday’s ceremony at the memorial in Arlington, Jonathan Scharfen, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, presented the certificate to Strank’s younger sister, Mary Pero of Somerset County.
Pero said the family was surprised to learn her brother never received the papers.
Scharfen said the ceremony was important to recognize Strank’s service – and that of all immigrants who have served in the military.
“Sgt. Strank is part of a larger and more important history,” said Scharfen, a former Marine.
He said rules have changed recently to make it easier for men and women in the military to become citizens.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, more than 40,000 men and women serving in the U.S. military have become citizens.
The oversight in Strank’s case was discovered by Matt Blais, a Marine gunnery sergeant who began researching Strank’s life while stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Local News
Related Photos
-
Mary Pero of Davidsville talks with U.S. Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan (left) and Col. Gregg Sturdevant after she accepted a posthumous certificate of citizenship on behalf of her brother, Sgt. Michael Strank, on Tuesday at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va. Jacquelyn Martin
Discussion
Local WWII vet’s sister accepts posthumous citizenship papers
- Local News
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
