WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- One of the Marines shown in a famous World War II photograph raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima was posthumously awarded a certificate of U.S. citizenship on Tuesday . The Marine Corps War Memorial in Virginia depicts Strank and five others raising a flag on Iwo Jima . Sgt . Michael Strank , who was born in Czechoslovakia and came to the United States when he was 3 , derived U.S. citizenship when his father was naturalized in 1935 . However , U.S . Citizenship and Immigration Services recently discovered that Strank never was given citizenship papers . At a ceremony Tuesday at the Marine Corps Memorial -- which depicts the flag-raising -- in Arlington , Virginia , a certificate of citizenship was presented to Strank 's younger sister , Mary Pero . Strank and five other men became national icons when an Associated Press photographer captured the image of them planting an American flag on top of Mount Suribachi on February 23 , 1945 . Strank was killed in action on the island on March 1 , 1945 , less than a month before the battle between Japanese and U.S. forces there ended . Jonathan Scharfen , the acting director of CIS , presented the citizenship certificate Tuesday . He hailed Strank as `` a true American hero and a wonderful example of the remarkable contribution and sacrifices that immigrants have made to our great republic throughout its history . ''
Staff Sgt . Michael Strank was among those who famously raised flag on Okinawa Island . Strank , born in Czechoslovakia , became a US citizen after his father was naturalized . Strank , killed on Iwo Jima in World War II battle , did n't have citizenship papers . Certificate given to his sister on Tuesday .