a short fire fight on top, the 54"-by-28" flag was attached to a long section of a Japanese water pipe they found and raised by Schrier, his platoon sergeant, and another sergeant. Seeing the flag up caused loud cheering from the men below on the beaches and ships. Lowery took several photos of the patrol before and after the flag was raised (none are shown of the actual raising and planting of the flag) which were not published until 1947. The Marines determined about two hours later that the flag flying on Suribachi was too small to be easily seen north of Mount Suribachi where there was fighting going on with more fighting to occur in the days ahead. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson sent a Marine officer from the battalion to get a large flag (he went on board LST 779 for a flag) and also ordered the battalion adjutant to get a flag. The adjutant sent one of his E Company runners to get a flag who returned with one from a ship docked at shore. A squad leader from E Company was ordered to take three of his men up Mount Suribachi to raise the replacement flag which the runner took up ahead of them with orders for Lieutenant Schrier to have it raised and the first flag sent down with him (runner). Joe Rosenthal, an Associated Press photographer who had just come ashore, headed towards Mount Suribachi and ascended the mountain with two Marine photographers at this time. It is the photo of the second flag raising by Rosenthal that became the iconic photo of the battle. Following the taking of Mount Suribachi, the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines were allowed a few days' rest and then returned to fighting on the northern side of Mount Suribachi and the island on March 1 until Iwo Jima was declared secure on March 26, 1945 (the 5th Division left for Hawaii on March 27). Post Iwo Jima After the fighting on Iwo Jima, the battalion returned to Camp Tarawa, Hawaii to rest and refit and begin training for the planned invasion of Japan. The Japanese surrender saw the battalion take part in occupation duty near the city of Nagasaki. 2/28 returned to the United States in December 1945 and were inactivated shortly thereafter, in January 1946. Reactivation The battalion was reactivated in 1967 to serve as a training unit for Marines