Feel Good Story of the Day: Iwo Jima Hero Awarded Citizenship

It has been more than 63 years since Sgt. Michael Strank helped raise the American flag during World War II on the infamous Mount Suribachi. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services honored the fallen hero by presenting his youngest sister, Mary Pero, with a certificate of citizenship at the Marine Corps War Memorial, the monument that immortalizes five Marines and a sailor captured in thec Pulitzer-winning photograph taken Feb. 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Michael Strank was killed by artillery fire days after the photo was taken.

Strank was born in Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia, in 1919, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1922 with his mother. In 1935, his father became a naturalized citizen, giving his children automatic citizenship. Strank’s citizenship was never called into question. But recently, a Marine security guard, Gunnery Sgt. Matt Blais, began researching Strank’s descent while working at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia, and discovered Strank was not a natural-born U. S. citizen. Blais petitioned USCIS for formal citizenship on behalf of Strank. “He is part of a long and distinguished line of American immigrants that have served our country,” the Dirctor of Citizenship and Immigartion services said.

Strank fought in three separate World War II campaigns on the Pacific front, including battles at Pavuvu and Bougainville, and won the Bronze Star with V for valor.

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KJ