Flags Of Our Fathers Sparknotes

“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

the Pacific Island of Iwo Jima. The historical time period that the events of the book take place in is World War II. The author of the book is James Bradley, son of the flag raiser John Bradley. He chose to write this book to allow people to see the men in the flag raising photo as who they were during their lifetimes and not just as the heroes they were portrayed to be for raising the flag. He was interested in writing the book because he wanted to learn more about his father’s time in World War II. Throughout his life, John Bradley, never discussed his time in the war or his role in the flag raising on Iwo Jima with his family. In school James had often heard his father referred to as a hero, yet he didn’t understand why his father never acknowledged this himself. This left James curious and eager to know why his father avoided discussing his service time.
In terms of U.S.

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

raising.
One quote that will be etched in mind for a long time to come is the following: “Veterans knew the last word of a boy in battle was...rendered in different tongues, but the meaning was universal. His last word was invariably ‘okasan’. The German would cry ‘Mutter!’ The English and Americans ‘Mother!’, ‘Mom!’, or ‘Mommy!’” This quote sheds light on how soldiers that die on the battlefield are glorified for dying courageously, yet the last thing that they do before they die is call out for their mothers. Another interesting thing discussed in this book is the toll that fighting a war has soldiers. Before the war, the men are eager to fight for the country yet often a little while after enlisting and engaging in battle, the men ask themselves, “‘Why does this have to be? We all have mothers. We’re all human.’” (241) They also question why they’re even fighting in the first place and what the endgame is. They say, “Why did I have to do this? Looking down a barrel into someone’s eyeballs and having to kill him. There’s no glory in that.” (242) The author speaks of how civilians seem to think that they understand war and can comprehend it. He says “To the civilian non combatant war was ‘knowable’ and ‘understandable’...war could be clear and logical to those who had not touched its barb.” (90) This book sheds light on how civilians can never truly understand what soldiers go through in war. James Bradley says, “Battle veterans quickly lost a sense of war’s certitude...bewildered and numbed, they could not unburden themselves to their civilian counterparts, who could never comprehend through mere words.” (90) In the case of the flag raiser Ira Hayes, his inability to communicate his troubles caused by fighting in World War II led him to excessive drinking, which landed him in jail multiple times, and eventually caused his death.