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| Harold G. Schrier | |
|---|---|
| Name | Harold G. Schrier |
| Birth date | August 13, 1916 |
| Birth place | Hillsboro, Oregon |
| Death date | April 30, 1971 |
| Death place | Seattle, Washington |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Serviceyears | 1940–1959 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division |
| Battles | World War II, World War II: Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Navy Cross |
Harold G. Schrier was a United States Marine Corps officer known for leading the patrol that raised the first American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He served with the 5th Marine Division and the 28th Marine Regiment and was decorated with the Navy Cross for his actions. Schrier later continued a career in the Marine Corps through the early Cold War era and retired as a captain.
Schrier was born in Hillsboro, Oregon, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest during the interwar period, a time shaped by the aftermath of the World War I peace settlements and the economic turmoil of the Great Depression. He attended local schools in Oregon before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps as tensions rose in the late 1930s and early 1940s amid events such as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the prelude to American involvement in World War II. Influences on his early development included regional veterans' organizations and national mobilization efforts led by the War Department and naval leadership like Frank Knox and Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.
Schrier's enlisted service and commissioning occurred against the backdrop of major Pacific War campaigns. He trained at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and served with units that would be employed in island-hopping operations directed by commanders such as Chester W. Nimitz and Douglas MacArthur. Assigned to the 28th Marine Regiment within the 5th Marine Division, Schrier operated under regimental leaders and division commanders who coordinated amphibious assaults alongside United States Navy task forces, amphibious commanders, and supporting elements including United States Army Air Forces units. His unit prepared for operations mirrored in campaigns like Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Saipan as part of Operation Detachment.
During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Schrier, then a Marine lieutenant, led the 40-man patrol that ascended Mount Suribachi to seize the summit from entrenched Imperial Japanese Army defenders during the campaign coordinated by V XXV and operational plans influenced by Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and Holland M. Smith. Schrier ordered and helped raise the first American flag on Suribachi on February 23, 1945, an event that involved Marines from companies of the 28th Marine Regiment and was contemporaneous with actions reported by combat photographers and war correspondents working for outlets covering the Pacific Theater and the United States Department of the Navy. The first flag-raising preceded the iconic second flag-raising captured by Joe Rosenthal and photographed for the Associated Press, which later became the basis for the Marine Corps War Memorial and inspired public commemorations linked to figures such as Harry S. Truman and war bond drives. For his leadership and gallantry in action during the climb and engagement at Suribachi, Schrier received the Navy Cross, an award administered by the Department of the Navy.
After Iwo Jima, Schrier continued service during the closing months of World War II and into the early Cold War era, during which the United States Marine Corps adjusted force posture in response to events such as the Chinese Civil War, the Berlin Blockade, and the outbreak of the Korean War. He served in various posts and training commands influenced by doctrine developed at institutions like the Naval War College and policies from the Department of Defense. Schrier retired from active duty in 1959 with the rank of captain, transitioning to civilian life amid the Eisenhower and early Kennedy administrations' shifting military priorities.
Schrier's personal life included ties to family and veteran communities in the Pacific Northwest, where he died in Seattle, Washington. His role in the first flag-raising has been the subject of historical accounts, oral histories, and debates involving participants such as members of the 28th Marine Regiment and contemporaries memorialized alongside him in works about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the Marine Corps War Memorial, and histories by authors chronicling the Pacific War. His Navy Cross citation and participation in the Suribachi action link him to broader narratives involving United States Marine Corps valor, remembrance at memorials in Arlington National Cemetery and public institutions, and portrayals in museum collections and documentary projects associated with the National Archives and Records Administration and Smithsonian Institution programs that document American military history.
Category:1916 births Category:1971 deaths Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)