~ ______Issue ~ http://www.elsegundousd.com/eshs/bayeagle0607/NovembeP25FlagsO...

Flags of our Fathers: A Novel by James Bradley with Ron Powers by Spencer Green, Staff Writer

“There are no great men. Just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstances to meet.” Admiral William F. “Bull” Hawlsey's words are the theme of Flags Of Our Fathers. Flags Of Our Fathers is not a book about heroes; instead, it is an account of six ordinary men doing what they had to in order to help their brothers in arms. No doubt, you've seen the picture before: the picture of six men raising a flag over Iwo Jima during World War II. James Bradley and Ron Powers have finally told the story of the six men in this iconic image. Bradley's father, John, is one of these men, one of the flag raisers who became instant heroes once the picture got back to America. While the Marines and Navy personnel continued to fight on Iwo Jima, the image began hitting newsstands around the country. This picture instilled hope in Americans, inspiring a country that was tired of fighting. The figures in the picture became national heroes, despite the fact that half of them were killed in combat soon after the famous picture was taken. Bradley tells the reader of how his father, John "Doc" Bradley, and the two other survivors, Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes, were forced to go around the country to raise money for the government. This was painful for the three men, as they had been forced to see many of their friends die horribly in battle, and they felt as if their dead and wounded comrades deserved the glory and fame more than them. The always-modest Doc Bradley told the press, "I saw some guys struggling with a pole and I just jumped in to lend them a hand. It's as simple as that." Bradley and the others felt like they were unworthy of being such celebrities, as if they were taking the honor their dead buddies deserved. Because of a simple photograph, the lives of three men would never be the same again. As Ira Hayes would later say, "It's funny what a picture can do." Each man was scarred by the war: Ira Hayes remained in a drunken stupor until his death in 1955; Rene Gagnon was forced to continue playing the part of a celebrity until his death in 1979; and Doc Bradley cried in his sleep for years after the war. Each man experienced the same things, but only Bradley was able to fix his life and eventually get over the war. This story shows how a nation desperate for heroes can cling on to any image that can give them hope. The authors interviewed dozens of people who were first-hand witnesses to the events in question. The memories of these witnesses add greatly to the story, because they give the reader an ability to actually see what these famous men were like. The authors closely examine how these innocent young men joined the military to serve their country, then went on to become national heroes, and eventually tried to settle down and put the pieces of their lives back together. These six men went to hell but only three of them came back. Bradley has done justice to the epic story of the flag raisers lives. What makes Flags Of Our Fathers so interesting is that the flag raisers did not want glory or recognition for themselves, but instead for their fallen comrades. One cannot help but to be moved as one reads about these ordinary men turned into huge celebrities against their will. As Doc Bradley once put it, "I did not know the picture was being taken. If I had, I would have gotten the hell out of there and I would not be on this tour." These two sentences summarize how Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon felt about their predicament; not one of them felt like a hero, and each would have preferred a life of anonymity to a life of fame. Flags Of Our Fathers is not only a great book, but a touching one as well. Bradley and Powers have done a stupendous job of bringing the story of these ordinary heroes to the public eye, and now Clint Eastwood has made the book into a movie. The movie did a great job of bringing the story to life and doing it justice, and I recommend seeing it to all. The book is an incredible work of nonfiction, and I wholeheartedly recommend reading this amazing novel.

1 of 1 6/27/2008 11:36 AM