Rating: 
Summary: One of the Most Stunning Books in Many Years!
Review: Once in a long while a book comes along that should be considered "must reading" for everyone in the country, or perhaps every country. Flags of Our Fathers is such a book! Certainly it should be widely read in every school and university in America. Not only is it an incredibly poignant story well-told (I truly couldn't put it down, and when finished wanted to start it again), but it treats issues of war and peace from an extraordinary perspective. Anyone who ever thought (I don't know why!) that WWII was somehow a simple or straightforward or certain outcome needs only to read the battle accounts here to understand what US forces were up against. 22,000+ Japanese soldiers fought to the death, with a gruesome determination to kill every Marine they could get at.The six men immortalized in the flag-raising each had a moving story to be told, and this book provides these stories in a fascinating narrative. But the anguish of the three survivors at being trumpeted across the US as heroes while thousands of their buddies lay buried on Iwo Jima also offers troubling insights into aspects of publicity, heroism, and public understanding of war. The only point on which I have to differ from the author (and his immortal father) is in accepting too readily the idea that because the flag-raising itself was such a simple, automatic, and unnoticed event at the time it occurred that somehow it was unworthy of all the acclaim that the symbolic photograph later generated. Yes, the flag event itself was not the battle, and it was only among the thousands of nearly anonymous Marines that many great heroes could be found; yet, I find it hard to accept the characterizations of the six men as 'ordinary' people. They AND their 'brothers' in battle may have seemed somehow ordinary in civilian life, and the survivors had good reason not to want to eclipse the memory of those who had fallen, but ALL who performed these deeds under such circumstances were heroic. I think only a small proportion of people in the US (or any other society) could have handled the horrors that these men faced, and most military units of WWII (or any era) would have been completely annihilated on the beaches. These men WERE extraordinary, and the flag photo and memorials are worthy (though pale and limited) tributes.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Category
Review: I don't know where to start. When I turned over the last page of this book, I sat there and stared at the closed cover for a long time. I had just met and loved and lost some of the most exceptional men I've ever known. The impact of this book is astounding, far beyond the category of "war books." I've read a lot of those, many of them excellent. This book transcends the category into a compelling story of human will, accomplishment, pain and heroism. The authors can be as proud of the book they've written as they are of the men who invaded Iwo. Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: RELUCTANT HEROS
Review: I remember when I was a twelve year old boy and saw the famous picture of the American flag being raised on Iwo Jima. It had such an incredible impact on every American. Now, 55 years later, that flag raising and the men involved has come to life again in a most dramatic way through James Bradley's well researched story. This book should be read by every American. While so many stories of war tend to emphasize the heroics, Bradley's account relates the lives of these men in a manner which I am sure they would approve. They were men doing their duty, protecting each other and waging a battle against an enemy intent upon killing every Marine. None of them sought the heroic image nor wanted anything more than for them and their buddies to survive. The flag raising, in their eyes, was no big thing. Additionally, the insight Bradley gives into each mans early life and family, touching on their faith and values, allows the reader to see these men as they really were...common, everyday American boys. The battle accounts are grizzly and vivid. It is hard to visualize what these boys actually endured. This story takes you there and cannot help but make you proud to be an American. In spite of the fact that Bradley's father was one of the six, his account of each man's life is fair, accurate and uplifting. Truly, this is one of the best war stories of our time.
Rating: 
Summary: Heroes
Review: Excellent book. Highly recommended for anyone who knows how to read. A colleauge of mine and I agree it should be standard reading in High Schools across this great land we proudly call America.
Rating:
Summary: Heroes or ordinary men?
Review: I expected a battle book, and instead I found myself taking a journey into the individual lives of six very ordinary/extraordinary men who served in World War II. Their story is the story of millions of men and women who changed the face of the world, though these six men just happened to have their picture taken at an ordinary moment which turned into an extraordinary picture. I don't know how to adequately put into a few dozen words what Bradley needed hundreds to say. My generation cannot express enough gratitude to those who earned our freedom. They may have been fighting and dying for a small airstrip that B-29s could use, but they were fighting for something bigger than that, and Bradley puts his hands around it and cradles it without trying to pin it down to a single word. I confess that it was slow reading, for me, in the first one-hundred pages. I guess I have that need for instant action. But by the time I got to the last page, there were a few tears on my cheek, and no war book has ever had that effect on me. I write and teach history, and I plan to recommend and quote from this book. Bradley points out that the six men who raised the flag would not call themselves heroes. I understand their reasons--but they were heroes!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This is one of the best accounts of war that I have ever read. If you want WWII personalized and a better understanding of what the sacrifice and horror of war is all about then read this book.I was moved to tears many times and have a whole new respect for the men of the 'greatest generation'. Simply fabulous!
Rating:
Summary: A reminder of the Hell traversed for our freedom
Review: The author searches to understand what his father's participation in the photograph of the Marines raising the flag omn Mt. Surubachi meant. His research is tenacious but the weakest part of the book is his attempt to flesh out the other participants in the flag raising. The author stretches to make them individuals. This isn't his fault, it's been a long time and the memories of friends and relatives have faded. More importantly, to me at least, is the fact that they were all ordinary americans. They all felt their obligation to fight for their country and went through Hell. It is the detailed description of that Hell, that was Iwo Jima, that makes the book terrific and the experience more understandable than "Life"photos, Mailer, Jones or other WWII novelists have been able to do.
Rating:
Summary: Errors in the research
Review: I enjoyed the book but it could have used better editing. On page 63, the author states that Bataan fell on Good Friday, April 3, 1942. This is incorrect, the Japanese opened their final offensive on Good Friday, but the troops on Bataan held on until April 9. The book does an amazing job of describing the hell on earth that Iwo Jima was. I could not image any thing like that and I spent 27 years in the Army.
Rating:
Summary: A Moving Reading Experience
Review: As an ex-marine who entered the Corps just sixteen months after the invasion of Iwo Jima, I found this book a most moving experience that brought me to tears throughout the book. my forever thanks are to those fellow marines that gave their everything to keep America free. My thanks to the author James Bradley who refocused my attention to the flagraisers and to the magnificent men and women of WWII. Iwould say that this is a book that should be read by all Americans, especially our young people. Thank you again Mr.Graham for a masterpeace on your father and the other valiant marines
Rating:
Summary: I want everyone I know to read this book.
Review: I've almost finished this book, and I hate to see it end. The story of how this photograph came to be taken is beautifully told, weaving together details of the participants' early lives, military training, attitudes and beliefs, and families. Even better, though, is the language used in telling this story: it is a pleasure to read. I have been sobered by the description of the fighting on Iwo Jima. While I have always had a deep appreciation of what our military men have done for our country and for us, the details of this battle are staggering. I'm impressed with the personal stories which the author was able to collect, and the beautiful and seamless way in which they are put together. If you love adventure, if you love war stories, or if you care about people personally, this book is for you. Actually, this book is for EVERYONE.
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