| Franklin Runyon Sousley | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1925 Hilltop, Kentucky |
| Died | March 21, 1945 (aged 19) KIA on Iwo Jima |
| Place of burial | Originally on Iwo Jima later reinterred in Elizaville Cemetery, Kentucky |
| 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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Sousley was born in Hilltop, Kentucky, the second child born to Merle Duke Sousley (1899–1934) and Goldie Mitchell (November 9, 1904 – March 14, 1988). When he was three years old, his five-year-old brother, Malcolm Brooks Sousley (November 24, 1923 – May 30, 1928), died due to appendicitis. Franklin attended a two-room schoolhouse in nearby Elizaville, and attended Fleming County High School in nearby Flemingsburg from ninth to twelfth grade. His younger brother Julian was born in May 1933, and his father died due to diabetes complications a year later, at age 35. At only nine years old, Franklin was the sole male-figure in the family, and assisted his mother in raising Julian. Julian died in a car accident on 4 October 1951, at the age of 18.
Sousley graduated from Fleming County High School in May 1943, and resided in Dayton, Ohio as a worker in a refrigeration factory. He received his draft notice, and chose to join the United States Marine Corps in early 1944, and underwent extensive combat training as a member of the U.S. 5th Marine Division. Sousley landed on Iwo Jima in February 1945, and participated in the battle for the island. Alongside John Bradley, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank, he assisted in raising a replacement flag on Mount Suribachi, an iconic photograph immortalized by Joe Rosenthal.
Sousley was to be returned to Washington, D.C. for a War bond tour alongside 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.
According to James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers, on March 21, 1945, PFC Sousley was shot in the back by a Japanese sniper, as he was walking down an open road on the nearly-secured island. A fellow Marine witnessed 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." However, Ron Elliott's From Hilltop to Mountaintop shows an affidavit signed by Rene Gagnon reporting that "Sousley was killed instantly." Originally buried on the island of Iwo Jima, his remains were reinterred on May 8, 1947, in Elizaville Cemetery in Fleming County, Kentucky.
Private First Class Sousley was awarded the following decorations and medals:
A small memorial in the Fleming County Public Library, Flemingsburg, Kentucky
Franklin Sousley is featured in the 2006 Clint Eastwood film Flags of Our Fathers, and was portrayed by American actor Joseph Michael Cross. The film is based on the book of the same title.
In the 1961 film The Outsider, the fictional character James B. Sorenson played by James Franciscus was based on Sousley.