 He remained in the Marine Corps Reserve after the war and obtained the rank of captain.On February 23, 1945, Lowery, then a staff sergeant, accompanied the 40-man combat patrol (which included two Navy corpsmen) that climbed Mount Suribachi to seize and occupy the crest and raise the Second Battalion's U.S. flag if possible to signal that it was captured.The patrol led by First Lieutenant Harold Schrier, captured and secured the mountaintop and raised the flag attached to a Japanese steel water pipe approximately 10