An Irish man has been reflecting on his place in the history books on the 75th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, after his research led to the US military correcting the record regarding one of the conflict's most famous photos.
The fight between the US and Japan on the small Japanese island of Iwo Jima, which was one of the bloodiest battles of WWII, produced an iconic photo of marines raising the US flag.
Decades after the image first spread across the globe, questions were raised about the identities of the soldiers in the photo, and if they had been misidentified.
Research from Stephen Foley, a part-time historian based in Co Wexford, led to the US military correcting the record.
"You’re talking about possibly the most famous photo ever taken in wartime. The more I got into it really, the more I got obsessed with it," he said.
His work revealed one of the men the US military said was present at the raising of the flag was not actually there, and he also identified another solider that was present.
He took his research to the US military, who despite being skeptical at first, now fully accept the findings.
"In the beginning, I think they very much thought that I was a crank. I found it very hard to get them to listen to what I was saying, but after that it was a little bit easier to communicate with them," he said.
"They realised I did actually know what I was talking about."
Mr Foley spent countless hours cross-referencing photos and speaking to relatives of soldiers across the Atlantic as part of his research.
"It just goes to show you that our understanding of history can change constantly. I think we’ve just finished the job after 70 odd years we’ve finally corrected the record," he said.
Nearly 7,000 US Marines and about 21,000 Japanese soldiers died in the 36-day battle. The island, located halfway between Tokyo and Guam, was regarded as a strategic outpost.
Japanese troops defended the island for more than a month using a warren of tunnels and caves and commanding the island's highest point at Mount Suribachi.
The island reverted to Japanese rule from the United States in 1968 and since then has been home to about 400 Japanese navy and air force personnel who operate a landing strip.
