If you walked down the street of any American town or city and asked the typical resident if they knew who Michael Strank was, chances are that they would have zero clue; the name likely wouldn’t even ring a bell. However, what is interesting is that there’s a very high likelihood that almost every single American growing up has seen a photograph with Michael Strank in it. Without knowing his name, most Americans have seen him and felt the accompanying sense of patriotism that comes with looking at the photograph.

This is the photograph I am referring to:

Although a bit difficult to see in the picture, Strank is the third person from the left in the photograph. This photograph, taken by Joe Rosenthal, captures the moment when Sergeant Strank and his troops raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima against the Japanese Empire, near the end of the Second World War, in 1945. This image is so iconic that it appears on several lists of “the most famous photographs in history.” It is so widely recognizable that the United States Marine Corps uses this image to brand itself, and a statue replica of this photograph is in the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. Several other replicas exist throughout the United States, notably in Parris Island, the famous training and boot camp location of the United States Marine Corps.

So, who exactly is Michael Strank?

Strank is the son of Rusyn immigrants from what is today Jarabina (Орябина), Slovakia. Strank was born in 1919, in the homeland, before his family relocated to the Borough of Franklin, near Johnstown in Western Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was an especially popular area of settlement for Rusyns in search of work at the turn of the 20th century due to the booming steel and coal mining industries in the state.
Strank’s father, Vasil, worked for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, in the respective coal mines. Bethlehem Steel was one of the largest employers of Rusyn and other Central European immigrants at the time. Strank enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in late 1939, before the United States entered the Second World War. By the time the United States entered the war, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and became a Sergeant only a year later.

In 1944, he was redeployed and assigned to the 28th Marine Regiment where he became a squad leader. He was sent to Hawaii to aid in the training and preparation of the impending invasion of Iwo Jima. In early 1945, Strank was a key figure in the amphibious assault landing at Iwo Jima. There were two flag raisings in Iwo Jima; the second one, which is the famous one from the photograph, was the one that Strank was involved with and pictured in.

Unfortunately, only a few days later while still fighting on the island, Strank was killed by friendly artillery fire from American warships.
Following his death, members of his squad would oftentimes say that it was Strank’s leadership and determination that helped them carry on through the war. Strank courageously led his troops by example; a common phrase that he would mutter was “follow me, and I’ll try to bring you all safely home to your mothers.” He was indeed a Marine that all Marines should look up to.

He was also a Rusyn that all Rusyns, especially Rusyn-Americans, should look up to.
In my opinion, the most famous Rusyn-American is almost undoubtedly Andy Warhol. I would argue that Michael Strank comes in as a very close second. This might be a controversial stance since Andy Warhol is a household name for Americans and non-Americans alike; his influence on the realm of Visual Art in the mid-20th century is insurmountable. Strank, on the other hand, is not a household name in most places – perhaps beside the Johnstown, PA area, where he is regularly celebrated as a local war hero.

Michael Strank’s name is not well known, but that does not diminish his legacy or his influence. While his name might not be recognizable by the public at large, his image certainly is. His legacy as an American war hero speaks for itself. But beyond just being an American war hero, he is also a hero for Rusyns from all walks of life.
Strank eloquently demonstrates that Rusyns in the diaspora have just as much potential as every other group. In the United States, Rusyns and other Central/Eastern European immigrants faced colossal discrimination at the turn of the 20th century. Derogatory terms such as “Hunkies” and “Bohunks” were often used to disparage Slavic immigrants. This xenophobic rhetoric culminated in the passing of restrictive immigration laws focusing on drastically limiting the number of non-Northwestern European immigrants. The most prominent law passed was the Immigration Act of 1924, which put stringent quotas on immigrants coming from Eastern European nations as well as nations in the Eastern Hemisphere. These quotas for immigrants from these parts of the world would last until the 1960s. As a result, Rusyn immigration to the United States was all but halted, and Strank and his family were among the final wave of the larger swath of immigrants that came between the 1880s and 1920s.

Given the rampant discrimination, Strank in some respects broke through a glass ceiling, proving that the small-town immigrant Slavic boy could be a war hero too, just as much as an Anglo-Saxon. Rusyns exist as an ethnic minority in every single nation we inhabit; therefore, we are accustomed to facing discrimination throughout much of our history. And even though in the modern day we do not face the same level of xenophobia and discrimination that our ancestors might have, our struggle is still real, simply by existing in the world as a nation without a state, much like the Kurds of the Levant. “We are the people from nowhere” as Andy Warhol would often say regarding the Rusyns.

If one is to scroll through a list of famous Rusyn-Americans on Wikipedia, although there are several names of relatively recognizable people to be found, the list is still quite lackluster. It appears that every major ethnic group in America has people of their own that they can look up to. The African American community has a myriad of great figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. The Irish American community has John F. Kennedy. Michael Strank should be our John F. Kennedy.

Just as the Marines use the photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima as one of their symbols, the Rusyn community should also start looking at that image in a different light as well. When Rusyns see the image, they should remember that in that iconic photo is one of them – and that they can achieve such greatness as well.

Now I am not saying that every Rusyn-American that is proud of their heritage should start putting up portraits of Stranks face in their households; idolatry is superfluous. Rather, recognition that this particular photo has a major significance to the Rusyn community is what should be going through our minds. This photo has significance not only to American History, and to the Marines, but also to us, undeniably.

Strank’s name should start to become a household name in Rusyn communities. Rusyns need to have their very own figures to look up to, especially individuals that are not super politically involved in nature, regular working-class people. While political figures such as Dobriansky and Dukhnovych exist for Rusyns to look up to, Strank is unique because he was just a regular person. As a regular person, likely not even thinking about his actions in a political sense, he challenged the status quo at the time. If Rusyns are proud of figures like Strank, then we can truly understand that being a Rusyn is not just a collection of stories told by Baba, or a diverse language with its various dialects, or a larger political movement, or even a unique history; to be Rusyn means more than just any one singular thing. It means being a part of an ethnocultural group of regular people that can achieve greatness.

As my grandmother often tells me, to be Rusyn is to be hardworking, to be never afraid of a challenge, and to be optimistic when faced with hardship. Our Rusyn ancestors in the Carpathians lived tough lives as shepherds and subsistence farmers, in some of the least economically developed regions of Central Europe. But they persisted through many hardships, looking after each other in their small communities. Strank personified being a Rusyn by his actions as a war hero. A young leader who in the time of war, led his troops to the best of his abilities, constantly being optimistic about the future and courageous.

Ultimately, the biggest takeaway from Strank for Rusyns is that we should be proud of our history, and proud of the fact that there are many Rusyns in our history that have been able to achieve greatness. Even if there are many great Rusyns that don’t have their own Wikipedia articles written about them, so many regular people of Rusyn ancestry have left a significant mark on the United States by working in her steel mills and coal mines, eventually, many becoming leaders in the communities around them. It is in our blood to face hardships whether social, economic, or political, and Stranks legacy teaches us that we must never be afraid to face any challenges in life, big or small. Whether those challenges are working in a coal mine, completing a challenging university degree program, providing for your family, surviving the Carpathian winter in ancient times, or even fighting in a war, Rusyns have always been adept at facing and successfully taking on challenges.

Although Strank was never able to return to his own mother by the end of the war, out of the countless troops that he led through the war, many of them were able to return to their mothers. So, after all, he did fulfill his promise.