Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski (April 8, 1926 – March 7, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps private who was captured and killed by the Japanese in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He was a member of the Marine rifle company platoon who climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the American flag on February 23, 1945.

Biography

Ralph Ignatowski was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Polish-born Walter Ignatowski and a German mother, the former Frances Thomas.

U.S. Marine Corps

World War II

Ignatowski failed the physical examination when he first tried to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1943. However, he tried again, taking a friend's urine sample with him and this time passed the physical. In 1944, after "boot" camp training, he was assigned to 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. He became a close friend with one of his platoon's Navy corpsmen, John "Doc" Bradley, who was with Ignatowski on the battlefield just before he was captured on Iwo Jima. For more than 70 years, Bradley was considered to be one of the six persons who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi in Joe Rosenthal's photo Raising the flag on Iwo Jima when he was not (on June 23, 2016, the Marine Corps announced that John Bradley was not in the famous flag-raising photo); he was involved with helping to secure both the flag's flagstaffs put up on windy Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945.

Military records

Private Ignatowski was aboard the USS Missoula at sea on February 5, 1945, and arrived at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands on February 7. Ignatowski was at sea again from February 8 to 10, and disembarked at Saipan, Marianas Islands, on February 11. Ignatowski boarded USS LST-481 and sailed to Iwo Jima from February 11 to 18. Ignatowski, E Company, 28th Marines, arrived at Iwo Jima on February 19. Ignatowski was wounded by shrapnel in the jaw on February 20, 1945, and returned to duty the same day. On March 4, 1945, Ignatowski was seen captured and taken into a cave by Japanese soldiers and about 2 hours later, the deceased body of Second Lieutenant Leonard Sokol E/2d/28th Regiment was taken away at same location by Japanese soldiers. On March 7, 1945, both their bodies were found. The following entries from the 28th Marine Regiment records describe the timeline of their deaths:

Death

Although the exact circumstances are uncertain, Ignatowski was taken prisoner of war by Japanese troops, tortured, killed, and mutilated. Whether he was mutilated alive or not is unknown. Ignatowski's death is referenced in several books: Other eyewitness reports further indicated that Ignatowski had been tortured in the cave by the Japanese for three days, during which time they also cut out his eyes, cut off his ears, smashed in his teeth and skull. He had several wounds to his stomach, which had been repeatedly stabbed with a bayonet. As a final insult, his genitalia was severed and stuffed into his mouth.

Burial

Ignatowski's remains were initially interred with military honors in Grave 1201, Row 11, Plot 5, 5th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima. In 1949, his body was exhumed and reinterred at the Rock Island National Cemetery in Illinois.

Military awards

Pvt. Ignatowski is entitled to the following military awards:

Legacy