One of the most famous photos in history is the image of 3 US soldiers raising the American flag on a mountaintop at Iwo Jima. The man who provided the soldiers with the flag, Alan Wood has died at the age of 90.

According to Wood's son and the L.A Times the WWII hero died of congestive heart failure. Alan Wood is survived by a son and three grandchildren. A memorial service for Wood was held Saturday morning.

During WWII Alan Wood was a Navy Lieutenant after the war Wood would go on to become "a technical artist and public information officer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge," the L.A Times reports.

The L.A Times spoke with Wood's son who said his father never spoke about the war much but did recount giving the flag to a marine in order to raise it up on top of the mountain.

According to the L.A. Times Wood found the flag months before the battle of Iwo Jima "in a Pearl Harbor Navy depot."

The battle for Iwo Jima lasted from February 19 to March 26 1945. When the final fight was finished 6,800 US soldiers were dead and an estimated 20,000 Japanese soldiers fell along with them.

The photograph by Joe Rosenthal taken in 1945 has become synonymous with WWII. It defined a generation. Were it not for Alan Wood finding that 37 square-foot flag the photo might never existed.

The flag now resides at the National Museum of Marine Corps.