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Summary: WOW! FURTHER ENHANCED MY RESPECT FOR VETERANS
Review: A friend recommended this book to me after reading the entire thing in less than a week. I was in the midst of reading a few other books, so I said ok when he offered to lend it to me thinking that I would read it off and on and give it back to him in a couple of months. WRONG!
Within 3 hours of starting it, I had logged on to Amazon and had ordered my own copy. Within 3 days I had finished and was re-reading the parts I couldn't remember. The writing of James Bradley is good, nothing spectacular in and of itself. The story of Iwo Jima is one of the most riveting, gut-wrenching, and reverence-evoking in the history of the United States military, but I've read a few other (much more detailed) histories of Iwo Jima that did not have as profound an impact as this one did. The idea to trace the lives of a few soldiers through their battle is not a new one either.
However, there is something special here. I can't describe it. Maybe because the author was writing about his father. I don't know, but by the end of this book, I felt like I knew the men. I cannot even begin to say that I understood the horror of the war from their perspective, discovering mutilated bodies of best friends, living with the reality that every "pop" that you hear in the never-ending background noise of gunfire could have ended your life, or maybe ended the life of a comrade. But I think that I understand now better than I ever have before. When I met a WWII vet during one of my clinical rotations in a nursing home I had a new-found respect for him after reading this book. The effect has been profound. I know that that is the effect of many war books on individuals who read them for the first time; that is why there is such a market. I, however, have read many histories and war accounts of all shapes and sizes. This one stands out. I will never forget those men. I can never look at that picture of Iwo Jima again--which, even today, seems to be everywhere--without thinking back to the lives, loves, and deaths of those men.
Thank you, James, for your hard work in writing this book.
-Jacob Hantla
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Summary: No Review just good news
Review: Clint Eastwood is directing and Steven Spielberg is producing. Look for in 2006
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Book About the Men in a Great Picture
Review: Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley (with Ron Powers) is the story of six men -- Mike, Harlon, Ira, Doc, Franklin and Rene -- and the events leading up and following their inclusion in one of the most famous photographs ever taken: the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima. The author, James Bradley, is the son of one of the raisers, John "Doc" Bradley, a Navy corpsman during the war. I received the paperback edition of this book from my father; he had read it and been moved by the story. But, besides the fact that the volume was already on my shelf, I was keen to learn something more about the American war on the Pacific front. Flags of Our Fathers does not disappoint.
The telling of the story begins with each man separately, their individual lives and circumstances, and the series of events leading to their coming together atop Mount Suribachi. The actual raising of the flag took place following several days of intense fighting to take the mountain. It was followed by many, many more days of heavy, close-range combat to conquer the rest of the small island. Not until days afterward did anyone, including the photographer, Joe Rosenthal, see the image and guess the effect that it would have on people back home and those six young men still in the fray.
Three of the flag-raisers gave their lives taking the rest of Iwo Jima. The other three gave over their lives somewhat to the power of the photograph, returning to the U.S. as celebrity heroes and paraded out with the famous image to stir American support for the continuing fight in the Pacific and sell War Bonds. Each of those three young men dealt with their fame differently, and James Bradley provides an excellent and sensitive treatment of how the three survivors coped -- or failed to cope.
Of course, part of what makes this story so captivating are the controversies surrounding the photograph itself. I have no intention of blabbing them in this review, so you, gentle reader, will just have to take my word for it that the politics surrounding the photograph, both before and after it was snapped, make for an enlightening tale. Throw in some brave young men in the prime of their lives and a battle full of heroes against a deeply entrenched enemy and you've got yourself a story!
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Summary: Haunting, Thought-Provoking, Graphic, Poignant
Review: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is a brilliant work for so many reasons: it pays homage to the six men who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during WWII; it is a tribute to a father who felt strongly that the real heroes at Iwo were the boys who didn't come back; it is a testimonial to the USMC and its fighting men; it portrays a graphic and at times unimaginable description of the horrors of war; and, it depicts not only the indignities that we humans can suffer upon one another, but also the moments when common men (indeed, boys) are moved to perform acts of uncommon valor and courage. When reading this book, you will feel pride, grief, anger, sadness, and dismay. Its words will make you laugh, cry, mourn, and think hard. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is a good book---no, a great book---about a moment in our history and the ordinary men who performed extraordinary deeds and left their mark upon the annals of war. Read it...for the sake of the six flagraisers, the families left behind in all wars, and the whole human race.
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Summary: Flags Of Our Fathers vs. Band Of Brothers
Review: Having read both Ambrose's Band Of Brothers and Bradley's Flags Of Our Fathers, I've made some comparisons which I'd like to share. For a number of reasons, I think Bradley edges out Ambrose here. I'll tell you why:
One, FOOF goes into further character depth. FOOF covers the battle of Iwo Jima and all the companies and platoons, but focuses in depth on just 6 individuals. Bradley covers these 6 in greater detail than including their childhoods, enlistment, training, and action.
Two, FOOF is a much more intensely personal account. Written by one of the sons of the flag raisers, the book is electric in intensity and emotion that Ambrose can't match no matter how good a historian he is.
Three, FOOF makes better use of symbols. Granted, the flag raising is not just a literary symbol of the author's contrivance but THE most famous symbol of not just the Pacific theatre but of the entire war. Bradley's focus on the flag raising and flag raisers adds a literary focus not found in BOB.Both books are excellent accounts. You should read both BOB and FOOF; but if you only have time for one, choose Flags.
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Summary: Boring!
Review: I had to read this book for an Honors English class, and it was horribly boring! Yes, the information provided is accurate, but Bradly wrote it in such a way that it was just a pain in the behind to read.
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Summary: You ordinary guys -- you heroes of Iwo Jima
Review: I just finished this book. When I was done, I just sat there for awhile, trying to digest everything I'd read. This is the most powerful and human book about World War II I've read, while at the same time taking an unflinching look at the brutality and horror the Marines at Iwo Jima -- for the most part young men in their late teens and early 20's -- endured while taking that small volcanic island in the Pacific. Iwo was taken under fierce resistance from an enemy they couldn't see -- fanatical Japanese soldiers who were bunkered underground. The book tells the story of The Photograph -- the most famous photo of the 20th century -- the flagraising on Iwo Jima which was eventually immortalized in bronze at the Marine Corps memorial in Arlington Cemetery. Through Mr. Bradley's powerful writing, I felt like I got to know the six flagraisers on Iwo -- "Doc" Bradley (Mr. Bradley's father) a Navy corpsmen (medic) who was awarded the Navy cross for his heroism in treating Marines on the battlefield, Sgt. Mike Strank, a "Marine's Marine" who put the welfare of the men under his command before himself and who had a wild sense of humor, Franklin Sousley, a country boy from Kentucky who probably never kissed a girl, Harlan Block, a football player from Texas who struggled with his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs about killing while on the battlefield, Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona who fought his own demons by taking to alcohol after the war, and Rene Gagnon, a millhand from New Hampshire who happened to be in the right place at the right time. And I also got to know a lot of other guys who were on Iwo -- including Iggy. This book tells the flagraisers' story from boyhood on -- up to the battle of Iwo Jima, where three of them lost their lives -- and then of the effect of The Photograph on the remaining three lives. Through it all, a common theme runs through -- these guys did not consider themselves heroes. "The real heroes of Iwo Jima are the ones who didn't come back," Doc Bradley told his son on one of the few times he talked about it. "We were just ordinary guys doing our jobs," one of the survivors told Mr. Bradley during an interview. I beg to differ -- if there was one common virtue shown, it was that the Marines would lay down their lives for each other, and thus showed "uncommon valor." This book is hard to read at times -- especially about what happened to "Iggy" -- Doc Bradley's closest friend on the battlefield. Like I said, I got to know them, and I grieved when some of them died on the battlefield. This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand the sacrifices that have been made for our country. I loved it -- and I'm sure I'll read it again. Thank you, James Bradley, for a work of love, and for a human, awe-inspiring, and powerful story. I agree with the last two sentences of your acknowledgements -- they said they were just ordinary guys. They were "you ordinary guys -- you heroes of Iwo Jima."
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Summary: Flags of Our Fathers
Review: I was one of the Marines from the Green Bay, Wisconsin I&I Staff that were called upon to lay Mr John "Doc" Bradley (one of the flag raisers) to rest. James Bradley (his son) mentioned the countless letters and photographs that were found after his father's death to us the afternoon of the funeral. When I herd about his book I had to read it. This book is a powerful account of six very different men who came together in a moment that will live forever. To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or of the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photographs. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of his company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley wrote a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island, an island riddled with the Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man. The most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo, three were killed during the battle, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley's father (John "Doc" Bradley) truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only," The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back". This is the best book I have ever read!
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Summary: An Amazing Tribute
Review: It's sometimes amazing the importance that we Americans place on icons. The picture of the flagraising on Iwo Jima is burned into our memories, even when we don't know the full story behind the events that led to it. James Bradley is to be lauded for his moving personal and historical account of the most famous flag-raising in American history.
Bradley's father never talked about his war experiences to his family. He returned home, married, and buried the past inside him. It wasn't until after his death in 1994 that his sons began to piece together his life history, and discovered the hero their father was, for he had served as a medic in the battle for Iwo Jima and been memorialized in bronze for his part in the flag-raising. (What most Americans don't know, is that image that is forever captured and brandished in our memories, was the second flag-raising on Iwo Jima.)
"Flags of Our Fathers" deftly weaves together the alternately successful and turbulent lives of the young men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima with the historical and military aspects of the very fight over this small, sulfuric island. Bradley narrates each man's young life and what happened to him after the war was over and their bond tour duties had finished. Some quietly shouldered their war pains and victories, others wore them like a badge to their downfall. "Flags of Our Fathers" is a loving tribute to his father's past and to all the men who served America during this horrific and fatal battle.
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Summary: Flags of Our Fathers, The Flag Raisers of Iwo Jima
Review: James Bradley, son of the final survivor of the famous flag raising on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima, captured on the Pulitzer Prize winning photo by Joe Rosenthal, has written a superb and compelling book which must grace the book shelf of every student and lover of WWII history. James' father, John Henry "Doc" Bradley, was a Navy Hospital Corpsman who teamed with five marines to place a flag atop the highest ground on this deadly island, the final resting place for almost 7,000 marines and 21,000 Japanese. James knew very little about his father's heroism, for which he won the Navy Cross, and sacrifice. Finding a treasure of documents and letters left by his father after his death in 1994, James spent four years researching the lives of the six men in the photo, only three of whom survived the battle. He has crafted a superbly written, personal and captivating chronicle of six young men, snatched from normal lives by war and thrust to the forefront of one of WWII's deadliest battles as part of Easy Company, 2nd Batallion, 5th Marine Division. His meticulous research through letters, news stories and personal interviews of friends, family members and survivors who knew the flag raisers gives an intimate and revealing look into the events which ultimately brought these men to the most dramatic photographic moment of the war. His exhaustive efforts to follow the survivors of the photo through the remainder of their lives reveal all too clearly the almost unbearable burden of that moment's fame--the ultimate symbol of American glory and victory--upon those who raised the flag. Doc Bradley chose almost complete isolation from the event, choosing instead to keep locked in his memory the horrors of Iwo and his great personal courage. This book is both a compelling history and a wonderful tribute from a loving son to his father and his fellow soldiers who gave America one of its greatest and most enduring symbols of patriotism.
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