Flags of Our Fathers

James Bradley
with Ron Powers

In the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, six men were inadvertantly captured in a photograph raising the American Flag. That photo, which won a Pulitzer Prize, has become one of the most famous pictures in the world. Three of those men died in Iwo Jima. Three came home.

Jack "Doc" Bradley was one of the men. But he never talked about it. His family knew he was at Iwo Jima. They even knew he was a flagraiser. Nothing more. After Jack Bradley died, his family discovered he had been awarded a Navy Cross for bravery at Iwo Jima. His son James starting digging into the history of those six men and that battle.

This book describes how six young men were raised here in America, called to the Marines and Navy, and fought in World War II. The six of them were only together one time, when they helped raise the second flag on Iwo Jima to protect the first, important flag. The image taken is powerful. The actual circumstances of that instant are not. Yet the story of these men is.

It is the author's perspective that makes this a good book. At times, especially in the first part of the book before the war, the writing is slow. The ther personal twist Bradley puts over all of the book keeps it interesting. The retelling of the actual battle on Iwo Jima, recounted to him by many of the veterans who were lucky enough to survive, is heart wrenching. Those Marines were walking into suicide. Yet they kept going.

Bradley devotes much of this book to the actual month plus battle. He then follows the three survivors home and continues with their tale. Once they were identified as flag raisers, they were instant celebreties in the United States. Throughout their lives the notoriety of being one of the men in that photograph followed them. It is a fascinating true story.