1945 Iwo Jima Scott #929 3¢ Stamp Signed Rene A. Gagnon Flag Raiser WWII Japan For Sale

For your consideration is an original 1945 United States 3-cent Iwo Jima commemorative postage stamp, Scott #929, boldly hand-signed by Rene A. Gagnon and additionally inscribed 2-23-45, the date of the historic flag-raising on Mount Suribachi. Issued by the United States Post Office Department on July 11, 1945, the stamp reproduces Joe Rosenthals Pulitzer Prize-winning image of the second American flag being raised on Iwo Jima during one of the most consequential battles of the Pacific War. The dark manuscript autograph is written directly across the printed design, with the commemorative date February 23, 1945 placed prominently beside Gagnons name.
Rene A. Gagnon (19251979), a United States Marine, participated in the events surrounding the second flag-raising on Mount Suribachi and became one of the best-known public figures associated with the image in the immediate postwar period. For decades he was identified as one of the six men visible in Rosenthals celebrated photograph; in 2019, the United States Marine Corps formally corrected that identification, determining that the Marine previously identified as Gagnon was Corporal Harold P. Keller. Gagnon nevertheless remained directly involved in the flag-raising episode and its subsequent public history, making his autograph on this particular commemorative issue especially evocative. The inscription 2-23-45 should be understood as a retrospective commemorative reference to the date of the event, since Scott #929 itself was not issued until July 1945.
The stamp is the familiar 3-cent green Iwo Jima issue, printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and officially released in Washington, D.C. It was produced in enormous quantity, but signed examples are a distinct autograph category whose importance derives from the personal association with individuals connected to the event depicted. This example remains unused in appearance, with strong color, intact perforations, and no visible postal cancellation on the face. The signature is bold, highly legible, and extends prominently across the central image, creating a direct visual relationship between Gagnons autograph and the historic scene commemorated by the stamp.
Combining World War II history, United States military history, autograph collecting, and philately, this signed Scott #929 is a compelling surviving artifact of the postwar memorialization of Iwo Jima. Its significance rests in the conjunction of an official U.S. commemorative issue, the autograph of a Marine directly associated with the Mount Suribachi flag-raising episode, and the deliberate inscription of the exact historical date February 23, 1945. Properly understood and accurately cataloged, it is a distinctive and historically resonant crossover collectible connected to one of the most enduring images of the Second World War.

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