In 2004, I got to spend 2 weeks in Virginia for work.  The hotel I stayed in was about a block and a half away from the Arlington National Cemetary, and specifically near the “Iwo Jima Memorial.”  At the time, I was aware that it was a statue created from the famous Rosenthal photo, and I admired it for its size and composition.  I was also aware that this statue was about the marines who fought in the Pacific theatre, as they hopped from Island to Island towards Japan.

Naturally when the movie came out last year, I was very interested in seeing it.  We haven’t been seeing a lot of movies lately, so when I saw the novel, I bought it to read on the airplane, at the beach, etc.

I couldn’t put the book down.  The author is the son of ‘Doc Bradley’- the Corpsman who is just behind the Marine at the base of the flag.  He writes from a son’s point of view- wondering about what his young father was like during WWII, and this starts an investigation into the conflict, the enemy, Iwo Jima, and the lives and deaths of the 6 Marines in the photo.

Impressions

History is one of my interests, and I thought I knew something about WWII.  Most of us who have seen ‘Saving Private Ryan’ remember the shocking opening minutes.  As brutal as the Normandy landing was, the Iwo Jima landing, if possible, was worse.  The Island, seen as the gateway to Japan, was defended by 200,000 soldiers who had months to dig in and prepare a devastating defense.  The Normandy assault was over in a day; it took 800,000 troops over a month to “win” Iwo Jima.  800,000 with a casualty rate of 60%.

To give some background perspective, it was battles like Iwo Jima that hastened the use of the A-Bomb.  I’m sure there were other factors involved in the decision, but there was an estimate of 1 million American casualties if they wanted to invade and conquer Japan.  Probably the most telling statistic was from Ira Hayes, where a full company of 250 Marines, each an expert marksman, highly trained, went in… and 26 walk out. 

What I liked the most about the book was how the author devoted a lot of time writing about each of the 6 soldiers pictured in the photo.  Mike Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, John Bradley, and Rene Gagnon.  It tells the story of each man… where they came from, what their family was like, how they grew up, why they joined their service, and if they survived Iwo Jima, what life was like afterwards.  By the end, you feel as if you knew each man.

The book also tells the story behind the flag raising, and how the “photo” and the men pictured in it were used by the Propaganda machine to raise funds for the war.  

I have since bought the movie… haven’t watched it yet, but look forward to.  Plus I’m also eagerly awaiting ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ just to see the story from the other side.  The book details an enemy that was utterly ruthless- able to carry out the most barbaric acts and brutal tactics, but not all of the Japanese soldiers were souless individuals that committed all the atrocities, and I think this movie will give balance to ‘Flags.’

I think the two movies show that the only tragedy was that there had to be a war in the first place.