Rating: 
Summary: Simper Fi
Review: What a story. A sons love for a wonderful father could only have written this book with its forceful glory. In all wars kids go and men come back they that do, and try to fall back into civilian life but with great dismay many cannot. The feel of the country, parenthood, brotherhood and patriotism are all told exactly the way it was in those days. A crowning acheivement by a loving son. I read it in several segments and never once did I get through ten or twenty pages dry eyed. They were all heroes even if they would not accept it. The men of WW2 had to endure more that any of us did in the future, we can only be proud of them and as most have passed away let us always stand strong in the face of the world to protect our wonderful country in their honor.
Rating:
Summary: Flags of our Fathers
Review: Fantastic book!! The author has an uncanny ability to pull you into the lives of those six men. I felt what they were experiencing. From the loss of a fellow soldier to the minute the flag was raised, I was there. You become one with the subjects, it brings new understanding to my eyes as to what my freedom really cost.
Rating: 
Summary: I was suckered by the reviews
Review: I bought this book primarily on the enthusiasm evidenced in the reviews on Amazon.com. What a mistake. I managed to reach page 87 before having to give up in disgust. I'm fascinated by the second World War, and I've been devouring books on the subject voraciously. Unfortunatly Bradley's book fails as either a moving piece of non-fiction or as an historical account.Bradley's writing reminded me of a high school student's essay: clumsy sentence structure, cliche riddled, and poorly researched. As a son of one of the flag raisers I hoped that Bradley would be able to recount some of the experiences of his father. Sadly, Bradley never spoke with his father about his time in the war. In fact, Bradley wasn't able to speak with ANY of the flag raisers. As a historical work "Flags of our Fathers" fails completely. Facts are not backed up with evidence, and nearly all of the text is pulled out of thin air. Rife with errors, writing on par with Parade magazine or worse, "Flags of our Fathers" was incredibly dissapointing.
Rating:
Summary: An Extraordinary Tribute
Review: This is a book that you will read, reflect and then recommend to everyone you can. Powerful and poignant - yes, but that doesn't truly capture the essence of this book. The pretext of Flags of Our Fathers is interesting. James Bradley is the son of Doc Bradley, a reserved individual who becomes a reluctant icon immortalized in 1/400th of a second when a photographer captures him and five other Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi. Though a bona-fide war hero, Doc Bradley never speaks about his war experiences or that famous photo - not to his family, his friends or to the news services that continually call. Upon Doc Bradley's death James Bradley discovers some war memorabilia that his father secretly kept. This discovery peaks James Bradley's interests and he thus sets out to chronicle what brought Doc Bradley and the five other Marines to that famous moment in time. That part of the book is fascinating. But to understand why Doc Bradley never spoke about that experience one has to understand the battle on Iwo Jima itself. And that is the part where the book really takes off. James Bradley not only captures the truly horrific nature of that battle but also captures the incredible valor of the Marines who fought it. If, like me, you never knew anything about that battle of Iwo Jima other than the flag raising then you need to read this book. If you want to read a book that will truly inspire and emotionally move you then you must read this book. And you will also recommend Flags of Our Fathers to others because I can't recommend it highly enough to you.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: The acts of bravery carried out by the U.S. Marines throughout the course of the battle for Iwo Jima are absolutely amazing and heartbreaking. Mr. Bradley relates numerous accounts of heroism throughout this fine book. These acts, carried out in the face of the utmost brutality which defined the Pacific War by young men far from home struggling to save one another from the horrible deaths which consumed so many of their comrades, are simply heartbreaking. Beautifully and bluntly told, they are truly awe-inspiring.
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Summary: Heroism despite of human weaknesses
Review: This is a book about ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things, about the sacrifice they made, and their struggle to move on with all the painful memories. I was almost moved to tears when the audio book stopped. If there's anything above 5 starts, I would give it.
Rating:
Summary: Flags of Our Fathers
Review: Although I'm not a war buff, I really enjoyed reading Mr. Bradley's "Flags of Our Fathers," a man's tribute to his hero -- his father. Most of the other reviewers will give you a good synopsis of this book, but I just wanted to add that the writing style of the author could pull in anyone into this part-memoir, part real-life horror story. I was impressed at the way Bradley pieced together such a graphic recounting of the taking of Iwo Jima from many sources, especially as his father passed away shortly before Bradley began writing the book. This is an important and easy-to-read piece that most Americans should be exposed to, especially as many don't have enough historical education. This work also gives a rare insight into the real story behind the famous photograph of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima, and how their subsequent fame ruined most of them. It is also impressive that the author's father was able to lead such a normal mundane life after the brutal experiences he had at Iwo Jima, and I wonder whether this isn't the fate of most veterans -- a life sentence to the prison of their painful memories, with little chance to parole them, even to their families. This book can be classified many ways -- historical work, biography, a recounting of a war battle -- but to me it was the moving story of a man who only knew the true value of his father after he had lost him, and who wrote this book as a tribute to a man who earned a title that many hold, but few deserve -- an American hero.
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Summary: i read a book a week and this is my favorite book ever
Review: Flag of our Fathers is one of those books where you are 5 pages into the book and you are like wow this is great. The book details the 6 flag holders from the famous picture of the flags of Iwo Jima. Doc Bradley was one of the six flag holders and was the last one to pass away. The author of this book was Doc Bradleys son. Doc Bradley would never talk about the war and he sure didn't think he was a hero, but his son did. Could you imagine going to 7 th grade history class,and you learn that your father was this great hero,and then when you go home to talk to your dad about it. He won't say a word. Sadly Doc Bradley passes away and the son finds all the war relics in the attic.
The author takes the war relics and starts interviewing the the other 5 flagholders families, and what a story unfolds. This book is a history book that turns into a novel. There is the alcoholic Indian Ira Hayes whose life turns tragic after the war. You learn how demonic the Japanese were, and you also get to feel the mood of our nation after we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. At one high school a whole football signed up for the Army. Well I don't want to tell to much. Trust me you will love this book. I had tears in my eyes at the end of the book that is how much it moved me.
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Summary: Has a message for the Appease Saddam Now crowd
Review: Flags of Our Fathers tells the story - before, during and after WWII - of modest men singled out by fate to become immortalized in 1/400th of a second by a chance photograph capturing what was - to the participants - an insignificant moment. The Photograph, which - incredibly, given 1945 technology - was published in Sunday newspapers all over the United States just two days after the actual event - galvanized the nation and evolved into a symbolic emblem not only of the Marines but of all Americans who rose to the demands of the occasion to roll back totalitarian forces in the Pacific and Europe. Some reviewers correctly point out that Flags of Our Fathers is rife with factual errors and questionable interpretations, undeserved criticism and apparent ignorance of Navy and Army contributions to victory. Therefore, anyone seeking a comprehensive history of the Battle of Iwo Jima, much less the entire Pacific campaign, needs to look elsewhere. But every American who wants to understand WWII should read Flags of Our Fathers to learn that men are able to endure and persevere under conditions of unimaginable pain and horror for a righteous, or even not-so-righteous cause. And then, although many are killed or horribly maimed, some will come back and, despite the horror that never completely leaves their minds, lead lives that fulfill the old cliché, "Living well is the best revenge." And another group of Americans who may not be interested in WWII should also read this book. One anecdote retells a 1975 Thanksgiving dinner episode between author James Bradley and his Iwo Jima-veteran father, Jack. Younger Bradley, fresh back from living and studying in Japan, lectures his father with the discredited apologist myth that "American insensitivity to Japanese culture and FDR's severing of their oil supplies forced Japan... to attack Pearl Harbor. ... Japan was the victim." Younger Bradley, who no longer shares that naïve, revisionist view of WWII, expected his father to argue with him. But the then-52 year old veteran who "knew a hell of a lot more about why we got (into the war) than I did... just nodded", and passed his then-ungrateful son another slice of turkey. Recently a young know-it-all representative of the Appeasement At All Costs movement in the United States recited the same tired, apologetic-for-totalitarianism argument regarding Iraq that James Bradley lectured his father with. They and everyone else who really wants to understand the difference between America and totalitarian regimes, whether 60 years ago or today, should also read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson in History
Review: For those of us that have experienced war in all it's suffering, this book brings out the reality of sacrifice of young America for the salvation of future generations of the world.
Those people that think the Atom Bomb should not have been used, should read this and hopefully understand the millions of causalties that would have been the result of invasion of Japan, both military and civilians.
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