Charles Suver
Fr. Charles F. Suver, S.J. (1906 - 1993) was a Jesuit priest and military chaplain who is most well known for a relatively famous photograph of him giving Catholic Mass atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. Fr. Suver was born in Ellensburg, Washington and graduated from Seattle College.[1]
Suver served as a chaplain in the U. S. Navy during World War II and was assigned to the 5th Service Battalion, 5th Marine Division. In January 1945, he disembarked from Hilo, Hawaii aboard the USS Missoula (APA-211) and subsequently landed at Green beach on Iwo Jima with his ministry team on February 19, 1945.[2] Fr. Suver was one of 19 Catholic chaplains who served with the Marines in the Iwo Jima operation.[3] Donald Crosby, also a Jesuit, wrote about Fr. Charles Suver in his book, Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II (University Press of Kansas, 1994).
