Sometime over my most recent Spring Break vacation, I stumbled across Flags Our Fathers. I caught about 90% of the 2006 live action drama directed by Clint Eastwood. It was such a an engrossing film that I immediately went on a deep dive to learn more about the events that took place on and after the invasion of Iwo Jima in 1945. It was such a an amazing experience learning so much extra detail. I even noted that the film was based on a book written by the son of one of the main figures in the film. (I don't want to say the word character as this is a true story of valiant men who gave their lives for our country. So figures it is throughout the rest of my review.)I had pretty much forgotten interest in reading the book until I came across the movie showing recently again during my Summer break. I couldn't turn the channel even though I remembered a bunch of what I saw previously. It's that good of a movie despite being overlooked when in theaters. But thanks to the re-watch, I had the book on my radar to which a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across it at a used bookstore.
I didn't really care about the cost. As long as it was cheaper than the original cover price. The bookstore's asking price was less than half of cover. Immediately it was sold.
When Navy veteran John Bradley died in 1994, his son James knew that he had been one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima. (Despite the invasion being a Marine operation, because of John's medical background, he was assigned to Easy Company as a medic.) Because of the horrors he witnessed on that tiny island of sulfur, John Bradley wouldn't talk about his time there, nor the instant fame he encountered when he was named as one of the six men in the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal. Upon his death, James found boxes of citations and mementos of his father's service time, which included a cross-country war bond drive during the final months of World War II.
We now know that Bradley along with one other gentleman wasn't actually in that photo. There had been a previous raising of an American flag on the island's highest peak, Mount Suribachi. However, because the flag was too small and the head of the Navy wanted the banner of which he didn't even earn, the first Stars and Stripes was quietly replaced. Bradley helped with the first flag coming up and he was around when the transfer happened. Unbeknownst to Bradley and the other guy, Rene Gagnon, who had brought up the replacement, a photographer was taking the iconic photo which would later inspire the largest brass statue in the world. And if you asked John Bradley, that photo would become the bane of his existence.
Annually during every coming patriotic holiday, anniversaries of military powers or on the announcement of a death of a major figure in the war in the Pacific, reporters by the droves would request interviews with John Bradley. He'd have his kids answer the phone and lie that pop was unavailable as he was in Canada, fly-fishing.
James Bradley decided to investigate the real story behind the famous photograph. By doing so, he interviewed the few remaining survivors of the invasion as well as family members and friends of the 6 men believed for decades to be putting up a flapping version of Old Glory. 3 of the men died within days of the photograph taking America by storm. If it had been published during the 21st century, it would have been referred to as 'going viral.' The other 3 men survived to return home once peace was officially declared in August, 1945. But 2 of those men would never receive recognition for their part in the second flag raising, though both men had ample time to reveal the mistaken identities.
The lone man to be correctly identified while living was the Pima Indian Ira Hayes. He didn't want to be recognized at first and threatened to kill fellow Marine Rene Gagnon if he told military brass his role in the flag raising. Gagnon tried to stay mum until he was threatened with arrest and a court-martial and within hours, Ira Hayes was EVAC-ed from the Pacific theater and made a national hero despite his tribe's rule of not obtaining glory and personal prestige over others.
Flags of Our Fathers was written before the Marines conducted an investigation of the famous Rosenthal photo and corrected the identities of who was originally thought of as being Bradley and Gagnon. So the book doesn't explore a question that came up when I was researching for more information after seeing the movie. Was Bradley and Gagnon committing stolen valor by allowing the American public to believe that it's them in the picture and not someone else?
When it comes to Rene Gagnon, I don't know. He was the man sent up Mount Suribachi with the replacement flag. The book recounts how others didn't think he was a 'good Marine.' It was Gagnon who was asked to identify the men in the image. While he did initially keep his promise and didn't out Ira Hayes, Gagnon did point out one of the more obscured men as himself. Plus, his then fiance, and eventual wife, basked in the fame Rene received. Maybe he wanted to come clean and she would not let him. Son, Rene, Jr. states that it was an unhappy marriage and maybe the veteran's inability to tell the truth was behind all that.
As for John Bradley, I don't think he stole any valor. He did help raise the first flag and was around for round 2. He never saw the photo until after he was sent home to participate in the bond drive. So at first, when people talked about him raising the flag, he probably thought it was a picture of the initial event. When Bradley and Ira Hayes finally saw the photo in front of President Truman, Hayes pointed out that it was Harlon Block, not Henry Hansen as Gagnon originally said. However, Ira was quickly and quietly told to zip it as the 6 names Rene Gagnon ID'd were what the media was going with.
I think this incident led Bradley to not speak up about him not being in the photograph. He never felt like a hero. To him, 'the heroes were the men who died' on Iwo Jima. I think that, plus the untreated PTSD he went through nightly for many years afterwards were reasons why John Bradley just wanted to be left alone and be a family man and small business owner.
Though Flags of Our Fathers has undergone some revisions, it's still a great and powerful read. Some parts are tough to read about. Men die in horrific ways. Some by unthinkable torture. Not something that should be on shelves in a middle school library. But it's a work that tells the truth that the American people were told.
The edition I read was specially updated with a small selection in the back that talks briefly about the movie. I would be interested in an edition that talked about how James Bradley and his family reacted when the true identities were uncovered by the US Marine Corps.
A cool thing about this book is that after I bought it, I learned that it's autographed by the author. So, I guess I will keep it even though it's addressed to someone named 'David'. I guess even its readers can be misidentified too...
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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