James Bradley's 'Flags Of Our Fathers'

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some of who were Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War was, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” that was fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which was engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Small town America, mostly lower class, was looked upon to aid the war effort with countless men, where as the rest of the nation, the upper to middle class college educated students, were protesting the war and they believed that it was unjust.

Iwo Jima remains the Marine Corps’s deadliest campaign. February 19, 1945 was the day of the initial assault on Iwo Jima. That morning nearly eight hundred vessels, ranging from battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to

When you see the American flag, what is the first thing that pops into your head? Is it a war? A relative? A political leader? What? For me, I usually think of the Star Spangled Banner. I grew up on a military base in Germany. If the flag were being raised or lowered, you would see soldiers, and even civilians, standing at attention, saluting the flag. In a parade, as the flag was being carried in front by one of the brigades, everyone held his or her hand over his or her heart as the flag passed that person. Even in the theaters, before the movie would start, the Star Spangled Banner would be played while scenes of American flags in battles and peacetime were on the screen and everyone would stand, either at attention or with

marines storming Hawaii this eventually led to the flag being raised in Honolulu. Later on the Treaty of

North Charleston police department decided to release one of their officers from duty because he posted an inappropriate picture of himself on Facebook in a confederate flag boxer. The police sergeant, Shannon Dildine, did not feel like it was fair he got fired because he claims he did not break any laws. For this reason, he wants to be reinstated. He said, “There were no law violations or broken policies.” (Munday 2015)

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley is the chronicle of one of the most memorable moments in America’s military history. James Bradley achieves to capture in this book, moments of sadness, sorrow, majesty, and immortality of these six boys that raised the flag at Iwo Jima. The picture that immortalized that moment tells a story that represents all men that survived and died for America in that island. James Bradley’s quest for answers, for knowledge and for keeping the honor of these man alive, makes this book a true American History testimony. It was only the replacement of a flag but it became the most famous picture in military history. James Bradley’s mission to bring these boys back to life, and forever keep them in the country’s memory makes this book an entertaining and horrifying war tale. The flag raisers as they were called, were just six boys dreaming with the glory of war and the honor of combat. Unfortunately none of that was found in 1945 when they landed in the “sulfur island” of Iwo Jima. Horror and death were the only common themes in the lives of the men that fought for thirty five days against a “ghost” enemy.

Unfortunately, we live in a society in which the American flag is not treated with the correct respect and is shamefully and dishonorably treated. According to Megan Hickey and Laura Santhanam, 4,435 soldiers died in the Revolutionary War. In the War of 1812, 2,260 soldiers died. Over 13,000 soldiers died in the Mexican War. Almost 500,000 died in the Civil War. In World War I, 116,516 soldiers died. In World War II, 405,339 soldiers died. Over 54,000 died in the Korean War and over 90,000 soldiers died in the Vietnam War. Almost 7,000 soldiers have died while fighting against terrorism. Whenever someone steps on or disrespects an American flag, these deaths which total over a million are belittled. This does not even include the veterans who were injured while fighting.

The Flag of the United States practically owns us. We committed to be owned when we first became citizens, and that flag means a lot to me and my family.

the flag on when the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions reached Iwo Jima is actually on top of a mountain the Marines secured, Mount Suribachi. Even though Iwo Jima is a very small island, it had several large mountains upon it. Iwo Jima is actually one island of many islands a part of the Volcano Islands archipelago. The island changed its name to Lo Island in 2007. Felix W. de Weldon was the sculptor who made the memorial. Joe Rosenthal, a member of the associated press, was the man took the very memorable photo of the soldiers raising the flag in Iwo Jima. This photograph made way to a man on duty in the U.S Navy, and inspired him to construct this memorial. Felix de Weldon served in the U.S Navy and was so moved by the photo he decided to create the life-size model that eventually wound up being the memorial we see today. Only three of the five men who originally raised the flag survived this horrific battle. That just goes to show how terrifically messy this battle

The true heroes are those who didn’t return from the island, those who died fighting for us in the war. The author’s father had said something once to him as a child, “Your teacher said something about heroes… I want you to always remember something. The heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who didn’t come back.” (Bradley 343) The authors father told him when he was in the third grade that he would not make a speech in front of his class because he doesn’t see himself as a hero rather just a survivor. They should just report the truth, John Bradley said: “It took everyone on that island and the men on the ships offshore to get the flag up on Suribachi.” (Bradley 285) John Bradley, Ira and Rene are being embodied to represent themselves as special, as the heroes among the marines on Iwo Jima. However, they insist that they are no more heroes than anyone else in that battle. The only words ever spoken by John Bradley in front of a camera were, “I was in a certain place at a certain time. None of us are real heroes; we all just jumped in and lent a hand.” (Bradley 352) James Bradley was an honorable man who did not bask in glory and including the other two survivors always knew that they have all been heroes in their own rights, but they prefer to remain humble, as those who died on the islands were real heroes.

Flags of Our Fathers was written by James Bradley and co-written by Ron Powers. The book was first published by Bantam Books in 2000. Flags of Our Fathers is a nonfiction story containing 376 pages, this including the index and bibliography. Flags of Our Fathers tells a story of the six comrades who raised the American Flag in WWII at the battle of Iwo Jima. The story being told by James Bradley who was one of the sons of John Bradley, one of the six men who raised the flag. After reading Flags of Our Fathers, I thought the book was very unique and moving. Especially with all the different themes that were contained in the book including: mother, religious faith, the tension between boyhood and manhood, heroism, misguided media, individuals

For our last week, I decided to share a story that I found on the children's library website. The story is called "Our Flag" by Sarah E. Chapman and is about the United States flag and is a nonfiction story that address the history of the American flag and its changes throughout time. One of the items that I found interesting about this story is that it talked about the first settlements in the country. From reading the story I believe it is most appropriate for children that are at least eight or older, because of how the book was written and children younger might find the story a bit dry. While the story was a bit dry, I did like the drawings in the story and the background that was given about the flag origins.

More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died , and more than 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault president Franklin D. Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan. On this day, during the battle for Iwo Jima, six U.S. marines raise the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the two islands of Iwo Jima and a key strategic point. Marine commanders decided to raise a second, larger flag.

The American flag appeared several times in this film. It appeared behind the rescue men and women in September 11 attacks, who were complaining about how the government abandoned them after they got sick because of the rescue work. The flag behind them remained the viewers that those who are suffering from the American health system are American citizens that sacrificed everything they had to help those who are in need and therefore, they don’t deserve to be treated this way. Also, when Michele Moore placed the American flag on the boat, which was carrying American patients that could not find an appropriate treatment in their country, was kind of ironic and made the viewers wonder, how the citizens of the richest and most powerful country

The genre of my book is Non-Fiction. Flags of our Father is the tittle of my book. The authors of the book are James Bradley and Ron Powers. The story takes place in the spring of 1998 four years after the death of his father on Mount Suribachi In Iwo Jima. James Bradley tells the story of his father John Bradley and the six men that raised the flag in Iwo Jima. The main characters are John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Mike Strank, Ira Hayes, James Bradley. John Bradley was the one of three survivors of the six men who raised the flag. After the war he went back to Wisconsin where he married his "third grade sweet heart," opened a funeral home, and raised eight children. Franklin Sousley was killed during the war. He was shot in the back while wandering in an open road. Harlon Block also died in the war. He was initially mistaken for another man years before. Mike Strank was also killed in the war. He was a Czech citizen, and he joined the marine although he was excused for the draft. Ira Hayes was a survivor of the war. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that led he to become an alcoholic. James Bradley is the son of John Bradley and he found as much information as he could about the men in the picture and now he is telling their stories.