“Flags of Our Fathers “ is a book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about the five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima, one of the costliest and most horrifying battles of World War II's Pacific Theater. The flag raisers included John Bradley (a Navy corpsman, and the author's father), Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, Harlon Block, and Franklin Sousley; the latter three men died later in the battle. The book follows the lives of the six flag-raisers through their early lives of innocence, military training, fierce combat and afterward, when they were sent on tours to raise money for war bonds. The geographical setting of the book is …show more content…
history and the values of this nation, the photograph of the men on Iwo Jima represented the valor and bravery of the American soldiers fighting the war. At a time where the battles of World War II were becoming increasingly brutal, and as more soldiers were dying in the war, this photograph of the men lifted American spirits. John Bradley says, “The flag raising photograph signaled victory and hope, a counterpoint to the photos of sinking ships at Pearl Harbor that had signaled defeat and fear four years earlier.” (221) Once the photograph reached America and spread in headlines, the men were deemed heroes. The most interesting thing about the situation is that the flag raisers didn’t think of themselves as heroes. The six men photographed simply saw what they did as doing their duty. Flag raiser John Bradley says, “I saw some men raising a flag and they needed help, so I helped them. (97) For two out of the three men that survived Iwo Jima, the photograph haunted them. The question that plagued their minds was, “How could... a quiet flag raising be portrayed as a valiant fight?” (224) It is intriguing that the flag raising that was photographed and became famous, was not the first flag raising that had taken place on the island that day. The flag raising captured was a replacement flag
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. Sculley Bradley, Richard Beatty, and E. Hudson Long Eds. New York: W.W. Norton, 1962.
From the day, the first European set foot on American soil up until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which occurred in 1865. Slavery was a controversial issue. The issue of slavery divided up the United States of America to ultimately put the two against each other. The Northern States who identifies themselves as the Union disapproved of the atrocious actions of the South who condone the crude treatment of slaves and the disturbing practices of slavery. Although slavery was not the sole cause of the Civil war, it played an important part in the disunion of the United States. The battle between states rights and federal rights rubbed more salt in the already enormous wound. Southern States who later considers themselves the confederates disapproved of the idea that the available actions of the states to act upon certain situations were dwindling, reducing the power and rights of the states. The set up of all these complications and disagreements led to the secession of the southern states which initiated the start of the brutal American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
When people see “Old Glory” flying, the experience should take their breath away. From the Omaha beaches in Normandy, where over three million soldiers stormed the German Nazis, to Iwo Jima, where the exhausted marines raised the proud flag, to the h...
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
“Now It’s the Japanese Who Will ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’.” Daily Boston Globe 7 June 1942: D1 ProQuest. Web. 13 March 2014.
When the flag was finished and he showed the men, they all saluted it and many began to cry. When the guards came across Mike’s treasure, he was beaten bloody. But remarkably, “He recovered in a couple of weeks and immediately started looking for another piece of cloth,” (Thorsness 109). This event is a clear demonstration of the pride each and every soldier feels for America. It demonstrated their ever growing desire for freedom.
Initially, Japanese strategists assumed that the tiny island would be overwhelmed in a matter of hours. However, they underestimated the fighting spirit of the military personnel and civilians stationed on the island. For sixteen days these brave men fought against overwhelming odds, but demonstrated both to the Japanese and to their fellow Americans back at home that the Americans could and would put up a courageous fight.
Today, if you ever visit the island of Oahu, you can go to the Arizona memorial. It has all the names of the men who died, and you can still see the Arizona underwater. Even today, oil bubbles up from the watery entombment of hundreds of men, making sure that we never forget Pearl Harbor and to make sure we are always prepared for every battle we might face.
The bombing on Pearl Harbor impaired America, which brought an increase to racial tension. However, this impairment brought all nationalities together. “Thirty-three thousand Japanese Americans enlisted in the United States Armed Forces. They believed participation in the defense of their country was the best way to express their loyalty and fulfill their obligation as citizens” (Takaki 348). Takaki proves to us that the battle for independence was grappled on the ends of enslaved races. The deception of discrimination within the military force didn’t only bewilder Americans that sensed the agony of segregation, but also to the rest of world who honored and idolized America as a beam of freedom for
Have you ever heard the saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? There are many things that look very unpleasing on the outside but actually have a meaning bigger than just our lives. Something that has a special meaning to me is the American Flag. Imagine a dirty, old flag that is still standing after a war that many soldiers have lost their life for. Thinking about that gives the flag a bigger meaning than just old cloth. The flag stands for all of Americans loyalty to their country. It also represents the hardships our country has overcome over many decades. The American Flag stands for everybody that has fought and died for our country. One of the biggest things the flag stands for is the loyalty of our people.
The Marine Corp sculpture has the United States of America Flag that was also sculpted into this magnificent work of art. The flag represents the battle during World War II that the Marines fought in Iwo Jima, and the raising of the flag took place on the 23rd of February, 1945 (Marines, n.d.). Furthermore, after World War II had ended, the United States Congress appointed Felix de Weldon to create the Iwo Jima sculpture in the realist tradition (Marines, n.d.).
On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3
Allen, Thomas B. Remember Pearl Harbor: American and Japanese Survivors Tell Their Stories. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001. Print.
[1] After the Day of Infamy: “Man on the Street” Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. Library of Congress, American Folk Life Center
America was not the only one who suffered casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan lost five midget submarines and nine of the men who piloted the small, war submersibles. The tenth man, Ensign Sakamaki, became our first Japanese WWII prisoner of war. Jap...