Alan Stevenson Wood (May 3, 1922 – April 18, 2013) was an American retired naval officer and veteran of World War II. Wood, who was U.S. Naval Communications officer at the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

in February 1945, supplied the American flag being raised in the historic '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph taken by

Joe Rosenthal Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'', taken during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. H ...

on February 23, 1945.

Biography

Early life

Wood was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, on May 3, 1922. He was a descendant of one of the first pioneer families who had settled area which is now modern-day

Sierra Madre, California Sierra Madre (Spanish for "mother range") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, whose population was 10,917 at the 2010 U.S. Census, up from 10,580 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. The city is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Vall ...

. Wood received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley.

World War II and Iwo Jima

Alan Wood had discovered a 37-square-foot American flag at a naval depot in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, months before deploying to the western

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He took the flag with him when he left Hawaii. Wood was a twenty-two-year-old naval communications officer for a landing ship, the Navy vessel LST-779, at the Battle of Iwo Jima. After five days of fighting, the U.S. Marines had managed to take the summit of Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the island. On February 23, 1945, a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

asked Wood for the largest American flag he could find; Wood gave him the flag he had found in Hawaii. Six Marines would later raise Wood's flag atop Mount Suribachi in an iconic photograph which was taken by Associated Press reporter

. The photograph became one of the most iconic images of World War II. A Marine General asked Wood to provide details on the history of the now iconic American flag following the battle. Wood replied to the General in 1945 letter, "The fact that there were men among us who were able to face a situation like Iwo where human life is so cheap, is something to make humble those of us who were so very fortunate not to be called upon to endure such hell." Wood's role in supplying the flag was confirmed in April 2013 by retired Marine Colonel Dave Severance, the commander of the company of the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

who took

Mount Suribachi is a -high mountain on the southwest end of Iwo Jima in the northwest Pacific Ocean under the administration of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The mountain's name derives from its shape, resembling a ''suribachi'' or grindin ...

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. Severance noted that "I have a file of more than 60 people who claim to have had something to do with the flags," but confirmed that it was indeed Wood who brought the American flag to Iwo Jima.

Career

Wood enrolled at the Art Center in Pasadena, where he studied water color. He became a respected watercolorist and painter. He was hired as a technical artist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

La Canada Flintridge, California LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

in 1958. He later served as a spokesperson and public relations officer for the Laboratory as well. Wood coordinated press and media coverage for NASA's Mariner, Viking,

Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...

and

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

space exploration missions. togetherweserved.com, Wood, Alan Stevenson, LTJG
/ref> Wood died of natural causes at his home in

, on April 18, 2013, at the age of 90. His wife, Elizabeth Wood, died in 1985; they had a son. He was buried at

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, is a cemetery and a historic landmark in Sierra Madre, California. History In 1881, Nathaniel Coburn Carter purchased land located along Central Ave., later renamed Sierra Madre Boulevard, for use as a Cemetery ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Alan 1922 births 2013 deaths Battle of Iwo Jima United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers Jet Propulsion Laboratory American watercolorists UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Military personnel from Pasadena, California Artists from Pasadena, California 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American male painters People from Sierra Madre, California