because his 2nd Platoon was missing, Liversedge threatened Severance with a court martial if he did not find his missing platoon in the next five minutes. Severance located the platoon shortly after. Severance led Easy Company off the beach under heavy fire and played a role in helping to cut Mount Suribachi off from the rest of the island before the day was over. By the end of February 21, Severance's company was positioned at the base of Suribachi. On February 22, Navy planes bombed Suribachi and mistook Severance and his Marines for the Japanese. Severance was unable to have his location marked with flares as the bombs continued to fall closer to his position, and he radioed to Colonel Liversedge to stop the bombing. The planes were called off and Severance spent the rest of the day preparing for the assault up Mount Suribachi. First flag raising On February 23, Lieutenant Colonel Chandler W. Johnson, 2/28's commanding officer, ordered Severance to send one platoon up the face of Suribachi. Severance decided to send his 3rd Platoon up the mountain, along with 12 Marines from his Weapons Platoon. Severance ordered his executive officer, First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, to lead the platoon up Suribachi. Just before Schrier left with the platoon, Johnson handed him a 54 by 28 inch American flag and said "If you get to the top, put it up." The flag had been taken from the USS Missoula (APA-211) by the battalion adjutant, First Lieutenant George G. Wells. Severance later admitted that he thought he was sending the platoon up Suribachi to certain death. Schrier led his platoon up Suribachi and raised the flag Johnson had given him. James Forrestal, the Secretary of the Navy, arrived at the beach just as the flag was raised. The morale among the Marines greatly increased upon seeing the flag and Forrestal said to General Holland Smith that "the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years." Forrestal was so excited that he then decided he wanted to keep the flag as a souvenir. Second flag raising When Lieutenant Colonel Johnson received word of Forrestal's wish, he angrily remarked "The hell with that!" Johnson wanted to retrieve the flag as soon as possible since he believed the flag belonged to his battalion. Johnson then sent his assistant operations officer, Second Lieutenant Ted Tuttle,