Bob Bolus was flipping through Parade magazine two years ago when he came across an article about Sgt. William H. Genaust, who filmed the raising of the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima, Japan, in 1945.

Genaust is believed to have been killed in combat days after shooting the footage, and Bolus was disturbed to learn that his remains were never found. Despite having no connection to Genaust or his descendants, the businessman and one-time mayoral candidate from Scranton, Pennsylvania, decided he would bring the missing Marine home.

"How do we ignore him and leave him in a cave along with other military personnel who are MIA on the island also?" Bolus said Friday in a telephone interview. "He gave us a patriotic symbol that we see to this day. It's important."

Bolus hired experts, pored over documents and badgered military officials. Now his efforts are starting to bear fruit.

Based largely on Bolus' research, an American search team is looking for a cave on the Japanese island where Genaust, a 38-year-old combat photographer with the 28th Marines, might have been killed...