Who is Mike Strank from Flags of Our Fathers and what is their importance?

Mike Strank was born in Czechoslovakia. When he was just an infant, his father immigrated to America for a better job opportunity. His father settled in Franklin Borough, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the iron mines three years before he could afford to send for his wife and the three-year-old Mike. Mike Strank grew to be a muscular and hulking man who was a natural born leader. He would often act as intermediary between his father and younger brothers. This was a role he would repeat when he became a sergeant in the Marines.