Franklin Sousley
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| Franklin Sousley | |
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| September 19, 1925 – March 21, 1945 (aged 19) | |
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| Place of birth | Hilltop, Kentucky |
| Place of death | KIA on Iwo Jima |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1943-1945 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines |
| Battles/wars | World War II Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Purple Heart |
Franklin Runyon Sousley (September 19, 1925 – March 21, 1945) was one of the six men in the famous photograph of United States Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in World War II.
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[edit] Early life
Sousley was born in Hilltop, Kentucky, to Duke and Goldie Sousley as the middle child of three sons and a daughter. When Franklin was one year old, his sister, Jamie Marie, died of yellow fever. When he was three, his five-year-old brother died of appendicitis. Franklin attended a two-room schoolhouse in the nearby town of Elizaville, and another brother, Julian, was born in May of 1933. A year later, Franklin's father died of diabetes at just 35. Only nine years of age, Franklin now found himself the man of the family, keeping his mother's spirits up with his sense of humor and easygoing personality.
[edit] World War II, and the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima
Sousley received his draft notice at eighteen and chose to become a U.S. Marine. After extensive training, he eventually found himself as part of the U.S. 5th Marine Division landing force in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Together with John Bradley, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank, he helped raise a replacement flag on Mount Suribachi, immortalized along with the others in Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph.
The importance of the photograph as a propaganda tool was recognized immediately, and word had been sent that Sousley was to be brought back to America for a War bond tour along with John Bradley and Rene Gagnon. (At that time Gagnon, under threat from Ira Hayes, had not revealed Hayes' participation in the flag raising.) According to Shadow of Suribachi: Raising The Flags on Iwo Jima by Parker Bishop Albee, Jr. and Keller Cushing Freeman, when the word reached Iwo Jima, Sousley was on a dangerous part of the island, and his company commander, Captain Dave Severance, decided it was safer to leave him where he was than attempt an extrication under the conditions.
[edit] Death in battle
According to James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers, on March 21, 1945, PFC Sousley was shot in the back by a Japanese sniper while walking down the middle of an open road on the nearly-secured island. He was nineteen years old. A fellow Marine saw Sousley lying on the ground and asked, "How bad are you hit?" Sousley's reply (and last words) were reportedly, "Not bad, I can't feel a thing." Originally buried on Iwo Jima, his body was reinterred on May 8, 1947, in Elizaville Cemetery, Kentucky.
[edit] Awards and decorations
Private First Class Sousley was awarded the following decorations and medals:
- Purple Heart (posthumously);
- Presidential Unit Citation with one star (for Iwo Jima);
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star (for Iwo Jima);
- World War II Victory Medal.
[edit] Portrayal in film
In the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, Sousley is portrayed by Joseph Cross.
In the 1961 film The Outsider, Sousley's role in the flag raising is given to a fictional character named James B. Sorenson, played by James Franciscus.
