On 23 February 1945, LST-779 received order to beach on the left flank of Green Beach 1, at 08:30, and she did so at 08:42, and unloaded the remainder of her combat cargo. Throughout the day the beach party continued unloading the remainder of the 2nd Howitzer Battalion's ammunition. That same day units from the 2nd Battalion of the 28th Marines took the summit of Mount Suribachi, and erected an American flag tied onto a section of pipe found nearby. Lt. Col. Chandler W. Johnson, the battalion commander, deemed the flag too small to be visible to many of the marines fighting on the island. He told 2nd Lt. Albert T. Tuttle to go down to one of the ships on the beach and procure a large battle flag large enough that the men at the other end of the island will see it. It will lift their spirits also. Tuttle hastened on board LST-779, beached near the base of the volcano, and obtained a larger set of colors. Tuttle, in turn, entrusted the flag to Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, Lt. Col. Johnson's runner, to carry to the top of Mount Suribachi. It was the raising of that second flag that was documented by Associated Press Photographer Joe Rosenthal and SSgt. William H. Genaust, USMC, in their iconic images. An air alert sounded at 19:21, and the ship opened fire on enemy planes overhead from 19:25 to 19:35. Enemy aircraft were again fired upon from 20:00 until 20:10. The ship secured from general quarters at 21:00.