Flags Of Our Fathers Thesis

Flags of our Fathers gave the audience the feel and visual of the experience during the war and the aftermath effect the war had on the men who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Including, the success and struggles from the soldiers and their families. Also the movie depicts the story behind the famous picture of the flag that was raised in Iwo Jima. America: A Narrative History gave readers an informational overview of the war and the great changes the war had for America including how the Great Depression and how it came to an end.

When Flags of our Fathers showed the men touring in cities to promote war bonds, there was no visual sign that the economic depression was still occurring. As far as I saw the people in the cities were well dressed, had access to cars and lived in decent houses. The involvement in the war had an impact on the increase number of Americans in the workforce. Further information about the mobilization of the war is explained in the book. For example, in the book it reads that the demand for military equipment and machinery was a staggering rate in the early 1940’s. To meet this demand, more job opportunities

were available in automobile plants, ship-building factories and other industries. Men who usually worked in these related job fields were drafted to the war which meant that women would have to fill in for their place, as well as African Americans. With the news of the job openings, many job seekers migrated to the west, including African Americans from Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. To gain the workers needed in industries, industries will compete against each other to lure workers by using incentives such as higher wages and medical care. Not only did women enter the workforce, they also began to serve in the military. An estimate of two hundred thousand women served in the military. As for the women in the work force, it gave them the advantage to step aside from the domestic lifestyle that was expected of women. Also gave them a new stetting to be in and be able to make money rather than staying at home and taking care of the children, cleaning and cooking throughout the day.
Although, there were some matters that did not change during mobilization such as racism and discrimination. African Americans were most likely to have jobs that had lower pay and were low-skilled. As for women, they faced gender discrimination in the work force and disapproval by men of their decision to enter the work force. By the 1945 the economy improved and changed American society in a new direction. Another related topic included in the book was the Double V. Campaign. These campaigns lead African Americans to fight for civil rights, democracy and racial equality all while supporting the war efforts. However, African Americans faced problems in combat such as racial segregations as well as at home. Race riots also occurred in nearly 50 cities which resulted in twenty-five blacks killed and as many as seven hundred people injured in these riots.
Ira Hayes, an Indian man in Flag of our Fathers was a man who showed great loyalty to his unit and fellow soldiers who fought with him.

But outside the military grounds when he was not campaigning, most people saw him as just another Indian man. Often times the white men showed him no respect because he was Indian. Such as the bar tender who refused to serve him a drink. Although Hayes was praised for elegantly being in the famous picture that was taken at Iwo Jima and fought in war, Hayes did not feel like he deserve to be called a hero. In the book, it explains how Native Americans ironically supported the war effort more that any other group in American society. Nearly a third of Native Americans served in the war. Native Americans were often used as code talkers because German and Japanese were unfamiliar with their

language.
Flags of our Fathers gave an in-depth gruesome visual of the experience the soldiers had fighting in the battle. Watching the film, you can see the difficulties faced by soldiers avoiding the massive and continuous shootings from Japanese in hidden hide out areas. Also, the soldiers were seriously wounded and there were a great number of dead soldiers hopeless on the ground. The battle finished in six weeks and cost seven thousand American lives. The book also described the Battle of Iwo Jima as well as the fight for Okinawa Island. This defeat was important because Okinawa Island was the staging area for the invasion of Japan. The fight resulted in 140,000 Japanese lives. In the summer of 1944 the allied command released extreme bomb raids over Japanese citied in hopes to weaken Japan. Soon after in 1945 fire bomb raids were dropped I citied such as Osaka, Korea, Nagaya and Tokyo which killed eighty-five thousand lives in this city. These raids destroyed 40 percent of Japanese cities communities.
The war brought America changes and as well as sadden memories. Between 1939 and 1945 the war cost fifty to sixty million lives. Most of these were civilians who died in Nazi death camps and concentration camps. As well as the survivors who were seriously wounded or disabled. On a positive note, the war overcame the Great Depression and brought new opportunities to people in the work force and business. What is shown in the end of the movie was how the war affected the men. Some were emotionally scared and others never spoke about their experience in the war.