U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Feb. 23, 1945. Strategically located only 660 miles from Tokyo, the Pacific island became the site of one of the bloodiest, most famous battles of World War II against Japan. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal)

The 69th anniversary of the infamous flag-raising at Iwo Jima will be commemorated when the Marine Corps League of Cache Valley hosts a dinner honoring those who served in the major battle of World War II and all other veterans as well.

Marine Corps League founder and chairman Mike Buist invites everyone to attend and the event will be held on Tuesday, February 25 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Bluebird Restaurant in Logan.

On <a href=”http://610kvnu.com/assets/podcaster/328/2014_02_13_328_19024_2867.mp3″ target=”_blank”>KVNU’s Crosstalk program Wednesday</a>, Buist said most people are familiar with the Rosenthal photograph of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.

“When they raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi people think the battle was over. Not so,” Buist said. “The battle was just beginning.

“It waged on for another month-and-a-half and they were still finding Japanese in the tunnels and caves of Iwo Jima.”

Buist said four veterans of the battle that essentially ended World War II will be honored at the dinner: Rex Thompson, Lloyd Lewis, Roland Hansen and Darrell Loveland.