Rene Gagnon

René Arthur Gagnon
Gagnon in 1943
Born	(1925-03-07)March 7, 1925 Manchester, New Hampshire
Died	October 12, 1979(1979-10-12) (aged 54) Manchester, New Hampshire
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Corporal
Unit	2nd Battalion 28th Marines 5th Marine Division
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Iwo Jima
Awards	World War II Victory Medal

René Arthur Gagnon (March 7, 1925 – October 12, 1979) was one of the United States Marines immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's famous World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

Early years

Gagnon was born March 7, 1925 in Manchester, New Hampshire, the only child of French Canadian immigrants from Disraeli, Quebec, Henri Gagnon and Irène Marcotte. He grew up without a father. His parents separated when he was an infant, though they never divorced. When he was old enough, he worked alongside his mother at a local shoe factory. He also worked as a bicycle messenger boy for the local Western Union.

U.S. Marine Corps

World War II

Gagnon was drafted in 1943, and elected to join the United States Marine Corps Reserve on May 6. He was sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. On July 16, he was promoted to private first class. He was transferred to the Marine Guard Company at Charleston Navy Yard in South Carolina and remained there for eight months. He then joined the Military Police Company of the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California. On April 8, 1944, he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. In September, the 5th division left Camp Pendleton for further training at Camp Tarawa, Hawaii, for the assault on Iwo Jima by three Marine divisions of the V Amphibious Corps (code named "Operation Detachment").

Flag raising on Iwo Jima

A portion of the color film of the flag-raising taken by Bill Genaust, USMC, excerpted from the 1945 "Carriers Hit Tokyo" newsreel.

A diagram identifying the six men who raised the replacement flag on Mount Suribachi.

On February 19, 1945, Gagnon landed on the southeast side of Iwo Jima with the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines on "Green Beach 1", which was the closest landing beach to Mount Suribachi on the southern end of the island. On February 23, Gagnon, a battalion runner (messenger) for Company E,^[1] participated in what was most likely the most celebrated American flag raising in U.S. history.

In 1991, former Marine Lt. George Greeley Wells, who was the 2nd battalion, 28th Marines, adjutant in charge of carrying the American flag(s) for the battalion, stated in The New York Times that he was ordered by the battalion commander on February 23, 1945 to get a large replacement flag for the top of Mount Suribachi, and that he (Wells) ordered Gagnon, a runner, to get a flag from a ship on shore — possibly the USS Duval County (LST-758).^[2] Wells stated that this flag was the one taken up Mount Suribachi by Gagnon to be given to Lieutenant Schrier of Company E, with a message for Schrier to raise this flag and return the other smaller flag raised earlier on Mount Suribachi back to Gagnon. Wells also stated, that he had handed the first flag to Schrier that Schrier took up Mount Suribachi, and when this flag was returned to him by Gagnon, he secured the flag until it was delivered to Marine Headquarters after the 2nd battalion returned to Hawaii from Iwo Jima.^[3][4][5][6] When the replacement flag and flagpole was raised by Gagnon and the five others on Mount Suribachi, the first flag and flagpole on the mountaintop was lowered at the same time.

On March 14, 1945, a third American flag was officially raised by two Marines at Kitano Point at the northern end of the island. The flag that Gagnon helped raise in the two unofficial flag-raisings on February 23 was lowered and taken to Marine headquarters. On March 26, Gagnon and the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines left Iwo Jima and both flags that were flown on Mount Suribachi were taken to Marine Headquarters in Washington, D.C. after the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines returned to Hawaii.

Government war bond tour

On March 26, 1945, when Gagnon and the 28th Marines left Iwo Jima for Hawaii, Gagnon was aboard the transport USS Winged Arrow (AP-170),^[7] and was the first to be identified as one of the six-flag raisers in the photo. He was ordered to Washington, D.C., arriving on April 7. Gagnon, together with the other two identified survivors of the second flag raising, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes and Navy Pharmacist's Mate John Bradley, were assigned to temporary duty with the Finance Division, United States Department of the Treasury, for appearances and participation in connection with the Seventh War Loan drive (bond selling tour). In May and June 1945, the tour went through several major U.S cities raising billions of desperately needed dollars and morale at home to help win the war.^[8][9] The three flag-raisers had the actual flag they had raised on Mount Suribachi with them during the bond tour.

In July 1945, Gagnon was ordered to San Diego for further transfer overseas. He married Pauline Georgette Harnois, of Hooksett, New Hampshire, in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 7, 1945. By September, he was on his way overseas again, this time with the 80th Replacement Draft. On November 7, 1945, he arrived at Tsingtao, China, where he joined Company E, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Marine Division. He later served with the 3rd Battalion, 29th Marines. In March 1946, he had been on duty with the U.S. occupation forces in China for about five months before he boarded a ship at Tsingtao at the end of the month for San Diego. Gagnon arrived in San Diego on April 20, 1946. He was promoted to Corporal and was honorably discharged at Camp Pendleton, California, on April 27, 1946.

Later years and death

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia

On February 19, 1965, while working as an airline sales representative for Delta Air Lines, Gagnon visited Mount Suribachi after visiting Tokyo with his wife and son.^[10][11] René Gagnon, Jr. in 2014, commented that his father René Gagnon, Sr. opened a travel agency and did accounting work and was not a bitter alcoholic, and in his last job, he had worked as head of maintenance at an apartment complex in Manchester where he suffered a heart attack in the boiler room.^[12] According to the book Flags of Our Fathers (2000), in his latter years Gagnon only participated in events that were at his wife's urging, events praising the U.S. flag raising on Iwo Jima. She enjoyed the limelight, whereas he, by that time, no longer did.

Gagnon died on October 12, 1979, at age 54, in Manchester, New Hampshire. He resided in Hooksett, New Hampshire, near Manchester, and left behind his wife Pauline Gagnon (January 16, 1926 – January 16, 2006) and son René Gagnon, Jr. He was buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Manchester. At the request of his widow, a government waiver was granted on April 16, 1981, and his remains were re-interred in Section 51, Grave 543 of Arlington National Cemetery on July 7. He is also memorialized in a special room at the Wright Museum of WWII History in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.^[14]

A monument dedicated to Gagnon stands at Victory Park in downtown Manchester, with a quote by Gagnon: "Do not glorify war. There's nothing glorious about it."

Military awards

Gagnon received the following U.S. military awards:

Corporal Gagnon's service ribbons at the time of his discharge from the Marine Corps.

• Presidential Unit Citation with ⁵⁄₁₆ silver battle star
• China Service Medal
• American Campaign Medal,
• Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with ³⁄₁₆ bronze star
• World War II Victory Medal

Portrayal in films

Gagnon appeared in two films about the battle of Iwo Jima: To the Shores of Iwo Jima (a government documentary which simply showed the color footage of the U.S. flag raising) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). He was also part of a Rose Bowl half-time show.

• Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Gagnon played himself, raising the flag in the movie with Bradley and Hayes.
• The Outsider (1961), Gagnon was played by Ray Daley.
• Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Gagnon was played by Jesse Bradford

Public honors

• Marine Corps War Memorial
• Rene Gagnon monument (1995), Victory Park, Manchester, New Hampshire
• Wright Museum of WWII History, Rene Gagnon exhibit, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.^[15]

See also

• Battle of Iwo Jima
• Marine Corps War Memorial — sometimes referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial
• Flags of Our Fathers — James Bradley, 2000
• Meliton Kantaria — Soviet flag raiser over the Reichstag in Berlin, 1945
• Mikhail Yegorov — Soviet flag raiser over the Reichstag in Berlin, 1945

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rene Gagnon.

• Corporal Rene Arthur Gagnon, USMCR, Who's Who in Marine Corps History, United States Marine Corps.
• Rene Arthur Gagnon, Corporal, United States Marine Corps, Arlington National Cemetery page.
• Rene Gagnon, Famous NH People
• The Flag Raisers on Iwojima.com
• Rene A. Gagnon at the Internet Movie Database
• Rene Gagnon's genealogy on rootsweb.com