Photo of firefighters raising flag at WTC enduring image

NEWARK, N.J. -- The photo has appeared on T-shirts, buttons and Christmas ornaments. It hangs at firehouses across the nation. A mural of it was painted on the walls of a Louisiana prison. And copies were left as a calling card in Afghanistan by U.S. commandos.

The photo of three firefighters raising a flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center has become one of the most powerful images of the disaster.

Many consider it this century's Iwo Jima image, recalling the famous 1945 Associated Press photograph of six American fighting men struggling to raise the flag on Mount Suribachi during World War II.

The picture was taken by 35-year-old newspaper photographer Tom Franklin of The Record of Hackensack, who said he instantly saw the similarities as he looked through his lens.

"I knew by Sept. 13 this was going to be a really popular picture," said Franklin, who has received thousands of e-mails from people detailing how the photo has touched them. "They said it made their day and lifted their spirits at a time of real despair."

About 30,000 people have asked the newspaper for a copy, and thousands more are using it -- without permission -- for all sorts of purposes.

David Gittings, a sewer inspector in Louisville, Ky., cut the photo out of a newspaper and has it framed on a living room wall. "That was a signal to bring everybody together," he said. "You can kick us, you can hit us, but we're not down."

The image has been named photo of the year by both the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and Editor & Publisher magazine.