Rating: 
Summary: Editor Wanted!
Review: The book is filled with redundancy and would have benefited greatly from a good editor. All in all still a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Hell in the Pacific
Review: My father served with the Marines, in WWII, on Guadalcanal and Peleliu and spoke very little of his experiences on those islands. This book provided real insight into the horrors and hardships that all those men had to endure. They knew the true meaning of loyalty, dedication, and sacrifice. Do the following generations of Americans have the "stuff" to perform as admirably as these men and boys did under the most difficult of circumstances? I wonder?
Rating:
Summary: I read it and I like it
Review: First time read it, i love it
Rating:
Summary: Another Classic
Review: This book rates in the top five of my personal best, next to Anton Meyers "Once an Eagle" and the introduction to "We were Soldiers Once, and Young". I agree that this should be required reading for history classes.
Rating:
Summary: Flags Of Our Fathers
Review: As this is my first review in Amazon.com, I'd like to greet to all fellow reviewers. I think that's a great place for us to help each other as reviews is a invaluable resource to help us choose a suitable book. I haven't read the reviews below but I'm sure there're lots of 5-star reviews and i assure you that it's well deserved.A bit history : on December 7, 1941, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto gave the fateful coded message climb Mt. Niitaka which signalled the attack by Japanese carrier-based aircraft upon the U. S. Pacific Fleet, peacefully anchored at Pearl Harbor. On February 23, 1945, U. S. marines climbed another mountain - Mt. Suribachi on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima and planted an American flag (the pic on the front cover). The author is the son of John Bradley, a navy corpsman who who has received the Navy Cross. The book is about the life stories of the six men that raised the flag on Iwo Jima, before and after Iwo Jima, as well as the story of the ferocious battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945 - savagery, courage and sacrifice. The author's voice is moving, poignant and provoking. I wonder if anyone has questioned why they were there and for what they were fighting. They only treated them as heros in their minds. But now, thanks to James Bradley as he described the war in details. Well actually he wanted to know why his father kept so many secrets and in trying to find out, he discovered who these men were and why they were such a big part of his father's life during that deeply and unforgettably shocking time in history. It shows the love between father and son, doesn't it? This book is a must in your shelves. I'm gonna let my father read it too and I'm sure he'll enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Addition to USMC History Books
Review: As a former Marine (1975-79) and author of privately-published books on the Marine Paratroopers and Raiders of WWII, I found this to be an outstanding book and an excellent addition to my USMC library. I had studied the history of the flag-raisings myself, since three of the members were former Paratroopers and three were former Raiders. The book was well-written and generally well-researched. Some of the veterans' accounts of the carnage of Iwo Jima should stay with you for a long time. The flaws were few and relatively minor, such as referring to weapons as "guns" although a notable error was stating that WWII Marines earned 84 Medals of Honor, whereas the number was actually 82. Still, it told the dramatic story very well and in a sensitive fashion. In this era when many teen-agers don't even know who the enemy was in WWII, this fine book should become required reading in schools, to enlighten people about WWII history and the sacrifices made by members of the best military organization in the world - the US Marine Corps. Semper Fi!
Rating:
Summary: Heroes set within reality
Review: For much too long World War Two has been glossed over as a Hollywood John Wayne war. Heroic patriotism with the true hell overlooked because we didn't want to look at it. Fortunately, time is finally focusing a clear lens on the war. What the new eye on the war is showing us (the Spielberg films, Schindler's List, Private Ryan) and this book is that true heroes stand much taller when you understand the real hell which raged around them. The waste of life and the insanity which politicians put on us in the name of war. In 1980 I had a high school history teacher who had nothing but fanciful glossy memories of his WWII experience. He felt the problem with "my" generation was that we had no war to bond us. That sort of thinking is dangerous, and is why we're lucky the passage of time is finally splashing color on a war which has too long hidden behind a black and white simplicity. It wasn't simple. It wasn't easy. It was hell, it hurt, and it's way past time we learned what it felt like.
Rating:
Summary: I don't read war books. I couldn't put THIS war book down.
Review: This is more a "social history" of a particular part of WWII than a book about "the war" per se. As one who was born in 1944, I came away deeply enlighted and even more deeply moved. This is history as we need to read it . . . so that history may not repeat itself.
Rating:
Summary: The True Meaning of a Heroe
Review: After reading this book, I bought the video, Iwo Jima, and continue to watch the flagraising scene over and over. I gaze at the film footage of the eighteen smiling men who poise with the flag afterwards, which includes four of the flagraisers, knowing that fourteen will be casualties. This book should be required reading not only for all high school students but for every immigrant who moves into this country. I never thought I could become infatuated with someone who died so many years ago until reading about Mike Strank, the poor Czech immigrant who was not a U.S. citizen, who volunteered to enter the war, and is one of the six flagraisers who didn't come home. Considered a Marine's Marine, a boy that everyone looked up to, I could not help wondering 'what if he had survived. .. " He surely would have had a bright future. After experiencing combat and on leave visiting his parents, who ask if he could secure a postion in the States, he replied, "Dad, there's a war going on out there. Young boys are fighting that war. And Dad . . . they need my help." His photo, his courage, the stories of him and by the men who served with him, his prophecy that he would die at Iwo Jima, still fill me with emotion. This book is also a tribute to the U.S. Marines who produced such incredible men as these, a tribute to the U.S. government at a time when "we were one". The enormous amount of strategic planning in terms of men and supplies to fight an enemy so far away, the teamwork of the Americans on the homefront supporting the war effort -it will leave you breathless. It is the poignant, 'real' stories, however, of the fighting men at Iwo that will make you weep. This book is not just a war book, it is also a book about mothers and the bond with their sons. It is an inspiration to read about these women and sadly demonstrates the true meaning of the word sacrifice. The story of Iggy made me cry even more. If anyone still questions the dropping of the atom bomb on Japan, you will be thankful they did after reading this book and wished they had done it sooner, before Iwo. The stories of Japanese cruelty will shock you. John Bradley, the medic, exemplifies to me a truly outstanding American and an outstanding human being. He always insisted he was not a heroe, but after reading about his actions on Iwo, his civilian life, his simplicity, how he handled the burden of the Photograph, makes one think otherwise. In this day of selfish celebrity worship, sports "heroes" being put in jail again, this book will prove to you what a real heroe is. Mr. Bradley, you have done the world a favor by publishing this book. We must never forget what these men went through. Thank you,thank you, thank you.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie to Come...
Review: I was right on after having read 'The Perfect Storm', and I believe I am right on here with 'Flags of Our Fathers'. Both have the makings of Great Movies. The interaction of real lives under severe stress just cannot be overlooked by a good producer. I'll be watching the big screen for hopefully another great American classic.
| 
