Flags of Our Fathers

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book About the Men in a Great Picture
Review: Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley (with Ron Powers) is the story of six men -- Mike, Harlon, Ira, Doc, Franklin and Rene -- and the events leading up and following their inclusion in one of the most famous photographs ever taken: the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima. The author, James Bradley, is the son of one of the raisers, John "Doc" Bradley, a Navy corpsman during the war. I received the paperback edition of this book from my father; he had read it and been moved by the story. But, besides the fact that the volume was already on my shelf, I was keen to learn something more about the American war on the Pacific front. Flags of Our Fathers does not disappoint.

The telling of the story begins with each man separately, their individual lives and circumstances, and the series of events leading to their coming together atop Mount Suribachi. The actual raising of the flag took place following several days of intense fighting to take the mountain. It was followed by many, many more days of heavy, close-range combat to conquer the rest of the small island. Not until days afterward did anyone, including the photographer, Joe Rosenthal, see the image and guess the effect that it would have on people back home and those six young men still in the fray.

Three of the flag-raisers gave their lives taking the rest of Iwo Jima. The other three gave over their lives somewhat to the power of the photograph, returning to the U.S. as celebrity heroes and paraded out with the famous image to stir American support for the continuing fight in the Pacific and sell War Bonds. Each of those three young men dealt with their fame differently, and James Bradley provides an excellent and sensitive treatment of how the three survivors coped -- or failed to cope.

Of course, part of what makes this story so captivating are the controversies surrounding the photograph itself. I have no intention of blabbing them in this review, so you, gentle reader, will just have to take my word for it that the politics surrounding the photograph, both before and after it was snapped, make for an enlightening tale. Throw in some brave young men in the prime of their lives and a battle full of heroes against a deeply entrenched enemy and you've got yourself a story!