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Summary: Best untold piece of history.
Review: This is the best history book I have ever read. James Bradley demonstrates to the world the psychological traumas associated with war. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience WWII in the safety of their home. TWO THUMBS UP JAMES BRADLEY!
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Summary: Flags of our Fathers
Review: I HAVE READ A LOT OF BOOKS ABOUT WW11 AND KOREA. NONE OF THEM HAVE EVERCOME CLOSE TO DESCRIBING THE TERROR THAT I REMEMBER FEELING FROM CONSTANT MORTAR AND ARTILLERY SHELLING THAT I RECALL FROM MY EXPERIENCES IN KOREA. I WAS A PFC WITH FOX CO 2ND BATTALION, IST MARINES DURING 1952. I KNOW WHAT THE MARINES ON IWO JIMA WENT THRU WAS MUCH WORST THAN MY OWN EXPERIENCES. THE AUTHOR WAS ABLE TO MAKE ME RELIVE SOME OF MY MOMENTS OF TERROR.FOR THAT I THANK HIM, I THINK. ONCE I STARTED READING I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. THE LIVES OF THOSE 6 MEN, PRIOR, DURING, AND AFTER THE FLAG RAISING WAS SPELLBINDING I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCED COMBAT OR TO ANYONE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE TERROR WE ALL FELT AT TIMES.
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Summary: Feel good book about a needless battle and needless deaths
Review: We Americans are soooo eager to praise stupidity and cover it with valor. Iwo Jima was not needed as a naval or an air base, yet the frontal assault butchers of the Navy/Mc needed the island to justify their existance in future budget battles. Our reward today is a multi-billion dollar obsolete surface ship-taxi service to evacuate citizens for the State Department when our sea and air-based posturing fails to bluff opponents into surrender. We forget it took a nuclear weapon from a B-29 to "bluff" Japan into surrender after we took Tinian in another flag-draped coffin bloody Navy/Mc assault. Its grotesque to praise this battle using the glory and blood of men who with better Generalship (refer to WWII Combat vet William Machester's American Caeser) these men would BE ALIVE TODAY. If we had better Generals/Admirals, we could have pushed through into China sooner rather than having our Flying Tigers (later 14th AF) and Merrill's Marauders live on shoestring supplies under highly skilled Generals Slim, Stillwell and Chennault. Then, once supply lines were secured we could have flown all the B-29s we wanted to over Japan to firebomb civilians and eventually drop the nukes. But there would have been no role/mission for the Navy/Mc so we spread our resources and watched thousands die assaulting Japanese bunkers, hiding in caves just to give a bureaucracy something to do and later on use as a PR ploy to distort and weaken the national defense policies of the U.S. That we were unready for Korea should come as no surprise--we look at the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi and assume all ground-based combat will be equally bloody so we decide we will rely on aircraft and bombs to fight wars and hold ground. A bad symbol of futility and defeatism connected to ground combat veiled with outward praise of courage/honor. Well, it doesn't work. And its not necessary. Good ground Commanders are not frontalist butchers, but find ways to get around and behind enemies to collapse him. If he's fortified on an island, bypass and cut him off so he starves to death like MacArthur did. But we will never realize this if we continue to write, read and buy books like this one; seeing war as a macho rite of passage to be praised with flag-waving and symbols and not objectively and professionally as a necessary evil to be done as wisely as possible to win at the lowest costs possible in a world full of evil men.
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Summary: How dare we complain of aches and pains!
Review: As a lover of history and biographies of great persons I found this book spectacular. My father fought on the both the Pacific and European fronts, until he was hit on D-Day+3. Like Flag raiser James Bradley he tended to not share his experieces and just to get on with his family and life. This book requires its readers to take pause and reassess our individual contributions to preserving what these brave boys fought for. The detail of their lives, the description of battle, and their eventual fates is mind numbing. I couldnt put it down but the emotions were too stong to try to explain to the ignored family members. If you're into American culture and history grab some tissues and dive in. Thank you Mr. Bradley for this patriotic gem. And a heart felt thanks to the Marines for their eternal sacrifice.
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Summary: Triumph of common courage
Review: By now, the stories of Iwo Jima are the stuff of legend. Legends, of course, carry connotative baggage, some of it good, some pejorative, and almost all of it hyperbolic. What James Bradley does is to strip away the veneer of invincible heroism to reveal the core character of the six men who happened to raise the second flag over Iwo Jima on day four of a month long battle. What Bradley does in his deconstruction of the six heroes, is to rebuild the heroism of the common man, the average American. Indians, immigrants, mill workers, farmers, religious minorities, all took place, put aside their common differences, and found their common strengthes to build an unbeatable team. The blunt style of Bradley's book brings home the humble heroism of these men: "The glassy eyed Marines had been inflicting heavy enemy losses for many days...'I was shooting them as fast as they came through. I got sick to my stomach; I vomitted; I was a mess for an hour and a half.'" If you are looking for a book that glorifies war (the slaughter of other men who think that there cause is just as noble as yours, or perhaps are just there because they have to be) this ain't it. If you are looking for a book that shows how "Uncommon valor was a common virtue," this IS it. Semper Fidelis
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Summary: Informative, interesting, entertaining, and heart wrenching
Review: I thought this was a wonderful book -- thanks so much to Mr. Bradley and Mr. Powers for all their efforts in putting it together. I loved it. I think it should be required reading for all Americans.
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Summary: ONE HECK OF A LOOK AT THE REALITY OF WAR
Review: I JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK AND THE TEARS ARE NOT DRY. JAMES BRADLEY HAS CAPTURED EVERY ASPECT OF WAR, IN GENERAL, BUT IWO IN PARTICULAR. I WISH I HAD BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE MET DOC, BUT THROUGH JAMES I HAVE AT LEAST CAUGHT A GLIMPSE. I WONDER HOW ANYONE CANNOT BE TRULY TOUCHED BY THIS BOOK...IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT. THANK YOU, JAMES BRADLEY.
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Summary: A Brave and Honorable Generation
Review: Most of the other reviews discuss the war and the book's impact on the reviewers. But I'd like to give my most sincere and deepest appreciation for the generation of Americans who fought in WWII. They were an unselfish group of men that did their duty with incredible dignity, honor and humility. They did not seek medals or praise, but did their duty with firm resolve and returned home to quietly rebuild a life for themselves. They did not ask for government assistance or sympathy from their peers or leaders. The author's stoic father was a excellent example of their tremendous humility and rightousness. At a time when the moral and ethical social fabric of our country is being strained it was a nostalgic to read of humble American men during a difficult time who did their duty and returned to make this country prosper. They were a great generation of brave Americans who fought, died and lived with dignity and it saddens me that they numbers are dwindling. My father is also one of them. Thank you.........
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Summary: Bradley Removes Hero Worship And Leaves Us With... Heroes.
Review: Born in 1974, I can hardly claim to have experienced the terror and patriotism that surrounded WWII. By all accounts, the picture of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi has always existed for me. In ever history book through school, the six men hoisting the American flag on a makeshift pole atop this sawed-off "mountain" was printed as the epitome of American valor. Little was mentioned about the people or the event that surrounded this monumental photograph. Now, thankfully, we know. This book is an absolute must-read. At once a biography of each of these six brave men, a history book, a war novel, and a tale of struggle, this book should find its way onto the bookshelf of every American. The lives of these men before, during, and after the battle of Iwo Jima is enough to fill you with great sadness and immense patriotic pride simultaneously. This book is as relevant today as it could have been had it been published 55 years ago. While it is quite usual to hear words like honor, courage, and commitment strewn about by talking heads that pervade our society and media, it is rare to see these demonstrated by actual human beings. The stories of these men will show that that even under great strain the human spirit can thrive, and that occaisionally our heroes can be taken at face value. However, as Bradley points out, these men were not heroes for raising that flag on Mount Suribachi. They, like every other American boy who set foot on foreign soil for God and country half a century ago, were heroes for the simple act of being there and doing the best they could. Buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost 5 stars...
Review: I read this book with great anticipation in that I had hoped it would make for a fine Father's Day gift. My dad fought in the Pacific war as well, although as a member of the 32nd division of the U.S. Army, not the Marines. In reading this book, I found myself reliving the same accounts of inspiring courage and heartbreaking loss as recounted by my own dad. I thought I'd found the perfect gift. I didn't. The only flaw in an otherwise surperb book is the glorification of the Marine Corp seemingly at the expense of the other branches of the service. This is not characteristic of the generation that fought WWII, but it seems to be quite characteristic of the generation it spawned. He never, nor has any other WWII veteran I have met, differentiated the service branches. For example, one of my dad's favorite movies is "Sands of Iwo Jima". He still takes great pride and expirences tremendous pain each time he watches it as it reminds him of his own expirences. He takes pride in the accomplishment of all the men who fought. I wish that this book had done the same. For the record, The 32nd Division was the first U.S. Division to fight an offensive action against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. It was also the first U.S. Division to score an offensive victory against the Japanese. Among the many honors awarded to the men of the 32nd "Red Arrow" Division are 11 Medals of Honor (only 2 survived to receive them), 157 Distinguished Service Crosses, 49 Legion of Merit, 845 Silver Stars, 1854 Bronze Stars, 98 Air Medals, 78 Soldiers Medals and 11,500 Purple Hearts, all while logging a record 654 consecutive days of combat. A record that still stands. The Marines had it tough, no question. But so did the others. It's a shame this book doesn't seem to think so.
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