Harold Paul Keller (August 3, 1921 – March 13, 1979) was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Bougainville campaign in World War II.

The first flag flown over Mount Suribachi at the south end of Iwo Jima was regarded to be too small to be seen by the thousands of Marines fighting on the other side of the mountain, so it was replaced by the second one.

The Marine Corps also stated that Keller was incorrectly identified as Private First Class Rene Gagnon in the photograph, who they determined is not in the photo.

Keller was assigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and was present for the Battle of Midway and took part in the fighting at Guadalcanal.

Keller met and subsequently married his wife, Ruby O'Halloran, while he was home on leave.

In September, the division was sent to Camp Tarawa near Hilo, Hawaii, for further training to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima.

Keller participated in the battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February 19 and ended on March 26.

On February 23, he was part of the 40-man patrol that ascended Mount Suribachi and raised the Second Battalion's flag on top.

Colonel Chandler W. Johnson, the Second Battalion, 28th Marines, commander, ordered a platoon-size patrol to climb up Mount Suribachi to seize and occupy the crest.

Captain Dave Severance, E Company's commander, then assembled the remainder of his Third Platoon and other members of the battalion which included two Navy corpsmen and stretcher bearers.

First Lieutenant Harold Schrier, E Company's executive officer, who volunteered to lead the patrol, was to raise the battalion's American flag if possible to signal that the mountaintop was secure.

After a Japanese iron water pipe was found to use as a flagpole, the battalion's American flag was tied to it by Lt. Schrier, Sergeant Henry Hansen, and Corporal Charles Lindberg.

Once the flag was tied on, the flagstaff was raised about 10:30 by Lt. Schrier, Platoon Sergeant Ernest Thomas, Sgt.

Seeing the raising of the national colors immediately caused loud cheers from the Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen on the south end of Iwo Jima and from the men on the ships near the beach.

Due to the terrific winds and soft ground on the mountaintop, Private Phil Ward and Navy corpsman John Bradley pitched in afterwards to help keep the flagstaff vertical.

The last photo he took on the mountaintop was before a Japanese grenade caused him to fall several feet down the side of the crater and break his camera (his film was not damaged).

[9] Though Keller virtually never spoke of the war, Marine researchers found evidence that he acknowledged the fact that he was one of the second flag raisers at least twice: first, in a letter to Ruby written from Iwo Jima in February or March 1945; and decades later, circa 1977, in a newsletter of his employer (a company called Surge) in which his participation is stated unambiguously.

[10] The monument was sculptured by Felix de Weldon from the photograph of the second flag raising on Mount Suribachi.

It has been acknowledged since October 23, 2016, that Harold Keller is depicted as the second Marine figure from the base of the flagstaff on the memorial.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower sat upfront during the dedication ceremony with Vice President Richard Nixon, Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Anderson, and General Lemuel C. Shepherd, the 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Ira Hayes, one of the three surviving flag raisers (Hayes, Schultz, and Keller) depicted on the monument, was also seated upfront with John Bradley (incorrectly identified as a flag raiser until June 23, 2016),[8] Rene Gagnon (incorrectly identified as a flag raiser until October 16, 2019),[2] Mrs Martha Strank, Mrs. Ada Belle Block, and Mrs. Goldie Price (mother of Franklin Sousley).

Moreau, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), President, Marine Corps War Memorial Foundation; General Shepherd, who presented the memorial to the American people; Felix de Weldon; and Richard Nixon, who gave the dedication address.

[12] Inscribed on the memorial are the following words: On March 20, 1945, President Roosevelt ordered the flag-raisers in Rosenthal's photograph to Washington D.C. after the battle.

He was questioned the same day by a Marine public information officer about all the identities of the flag raisers in the photograph.

[3][13] A Marine Corps investigation of the identities of the six second flag-raisers began in December 1946 and concluded in January 1947, confirming Pfc.

In June 2016, the Marine Corps review board announced that John Bradley had incorrectly been identified in the photograph.

[14][15] A third Marine Corps investigation into the identities of the six second flag-raisers concluded in October 2019, that Keller was in the Rosenthal's photograph in place of Rene Gagnon (fifth from left).

The Marine Corps photo taken by Private Robert Campbell which showed both flags on top of Mount Suribachi verified that Keller was actually the person thought to have been Gagnon.