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The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on a rocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell to earth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced one of World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.
One of those young Americans was John Bradley, a Navy corpsman who a few days before had braved enemy mortar and machine-gun fire to administer first aid to a wounded Marine and then drag him to safety. For this act of heroism Bradley would receive the Navy Cross, an award second only to the Medal of Honor.
Bradley, who died in 1994, never mentioned his feat to his family. Only after his death did Bradley's son James begin to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, which was but one of countless acts of sacrifice made by the young men who fought at Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers recounts the sometimes tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day--one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker--and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain. A strongly felt and well-written entry in a spate of recent books on World War II, Flags gives a you-are-there depiction of that conflict's horrible arenas--and a moving homage to the men whom fate brought there. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Say "Iwo Jima," and what comes to mind? Most likely a famous photograph from 1945: six tired, helmeted Marines, fresh from a long, terrifying and bloody battle, work together to raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi. Bradley's father, John, was one of the six. In this voluminous and memorable work of popular history mixed with memoir, Bradley and Powers (White Town Drowsing) reconstruct those Marines' experiences, and those of their Pacific Theater comrades. The authors begin with the six soldiers' childhoods. Soon enough, bombs have fallen on Pearl Harbor, and by May '43 the young men have become proud leathernecks. Bradley and Powers incorporate accounts of specific battles, like "Hellzapoppin Ridge" (Bougainville, December '43), and pull in corps life and lore, from the tough-minded to the slightly silly, from mandatory penis inspections (medics checking for VD) to life in the pitch-dark of "Tent City No. 1." And they cover the strategy and tactics leading up to the awful battle for the islandAthe navy's disputed plans for offshore bombardment, cut at the last minute from 10 days to three; the 16 miles of Japanese underground tunnels, far more than Allied intelligence expected. A quarter of the book follows the fighting on Iwo Jima, sortie by sortie. The final chapters pursue the veterans' subsequent lives: Bradley and Powers set themselves against often-sanctimonious tradition, retrieving the stories of six more or less troubled individuals from the anonymity of heroic myth. A simple thesis emerges from all the detail worked into this touching group portrait, in a comment by John Bradley: "The heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who didn't come back." No reader will forget the lesson. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Battle of the century,
By
This review is from: Flags of Our Fathers (Mass Market Paperback)
A son's journey to discover why one of the famous "Iwo Jima six" rejects his hero status. The battle itself is covered as well as the historic flag raising moment perfectly captured by the famous photograph.Bradley then ventures into controversial detail of the exploitation of the the six soldiers in the photograph into the army's rally cry to recruit and support it's campaign. Many see this an unpatriotic attempt to devalue the US army (especially by those who watched the movie). But that is the main purpose why Bradley's father chooses to live his life anonymously. He rejects his hero status to prevent the exploitation of his name to further the cause of war. I'm surprised that Clint Eastwood chose to make this a movie. Bradley's intent in the book is clear, and the movie just amplified his unpopular opinion thousand-fold. No wonder it did so poorly in the box office...
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that is written as if you were there in the war,
By russell guerra (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flags of Our Fathers (Hardcover)
This book is the best world war 2 book i have ever read to date. This book takes you at an in depth look and the whole history behind the actual picture that was taken that will always be a piece of american history. The details of the battle scenes in the book can make you sick to your stomach at certain point, and even make your eyes water from reading it. This book has everything, emotion, action, and a overall great read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sons tribute to his father,
By Tim Rollinson (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flags of Our Fathers (Hardcover)
This book is one of the best accounts of Iwo Jima that I have ever read. It tells the story as if you were there, and you feel almost sick to your stomach learning of how these poor marines were dying and yet they kept fighting on. It is about Iwo Jima but i believe it to be a tribute to John Bradley, the father of James Bradley the author. It tells the story of him and the other 5 flag raisers and what happened to them througout there lives. But to me this was the story of John and I felt that i connected with him from his earlier years as a boy through his corpsmen training throught the 7th bond collection tour. I understood John and why he never talked about his ordeal at Iwo Jima, the flag raising, and the navy cross he was awarded. If you have to read a book, read FLags of Our Fathers, its simply a great read.
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