Flag of Our Fathers

[Turbochrgdwitch]

I got this as an email from a family member:

A Tale of Six Boys"

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI. where I grew up, to
videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories
back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in
the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers
raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a
solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys from?"

I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads,
and I will tell you a story."

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC,to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there
that night to say good night to his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw
the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from
my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it
is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.)

"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a
book called "Flags of Our Fathers" which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of
the six boys you see behind me.

"Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state
football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to
play another type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game.

Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because
there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that
most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old.

(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's
helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a
photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He
was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.

"The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero
of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would
motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He
knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your
mothers.'

"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo
Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told
reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked
off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything
together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He
had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32 . ten years after this
picture was taken.

"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy.
His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General
Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Yes,
he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his
mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's
farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile
away.

"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I
was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers, or the
New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in
Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never
fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But
we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

"You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo
and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In
Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and
screamed in pain.

"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my
dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who
did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

"So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes.
Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out,
so I will end here. Thank you for your time."

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life
before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero Maybe not a hero
for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between
that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray
for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at
someone else's sacrifice.


REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's
going to be a great day.

Please pass along

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Turbochrgdwitch

I got this as an email from a family member:

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between
that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray
for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at
someone else's sacrifice.


REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's
going to be a great day.

Good one, and very true. Thank you, Candi.

[conlor]

Thanks, Candi. I've seen this before, but it's still very touching. And we still have boys, and girls, defending freedom.

[KBay84]

I read Bradley's book by the same title....very moving.

[Turbochrgdwitch]

Was it? I should get it and read it myself. Thanks!

[JudyLynne]

I enjoyed reading the "Tale of Six Boys" very educational.