On 17 February 2015, Mykhailo Kolodko created a mini-sculpture commemorating the American soldier of Ukrainian descent Michael Strenk. He, along with five fellow soldiers, was captured in Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph “Raising the Flag over Iwo Jima”, taken on 23 February 1945. His feat was also immortalised in the film Flags of Our Fathers by Clint Eastwood.
The mini-sculpture is located in the courtyard of a Slovak-medium school (GPS: 48.625937, 22.296445). Thus, it was decided to perpetuate the memory of the great countryman for both Ukrainians and Slovaks. Michael Strenk was a Ukrainian by birth. However, he lived with his family in a settlement in what is now Slovakia.
