Roll'em tonight was "Flags of our Fathers," the movie based on the book by James Bradley. It centers on the story, controversy, and legacy of the photograph taken of an American flag being raised by 5 Marines and a Navy corpsman atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. James Bradley's dad, John "Doc" Bradley was the corpsman in the photo. It was a great movie to help frame the history of the waters and islands we are currently passing. It was almost 62 years ago that over 30,000 US Marines landed on the southern beach of Iwo Jima on 19 Feb 1945, leading a force that would eventually exceed 100,000. Their first objective was to secure Mount Suribachi, where the Japanese had their strongest fortifications. Iwo Jima was the first battle fought in the Pacific on Japanese homeland soil. Iwo Jima and its two airfields played a strategically important role due to its location between Guam and Saipan, where the US had already established air bases, and the home islands of Japan. The famous flag raising photo was taken on day 5 of a 35 day campaign to defeat the Japanese forces at Iwo Jima. The US lost over 6,800 men on that little volcanic rock (to put this in perspective, the 101st Airborne Divison lost barely over 2000 men during all of the War in Europe). 27 Medals of Honor were awarded for valor (the most of any single battle in US history). Of the 27, five were Navy corpsmen. Admiral Nimitz, the Fleet Admiral of the Pacific, stated that "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." The occasion of the flag raising was more administrative than heroic at the time the photograph was taken. Very few of the men on that beach considered themselves heroes. It was the men who didn't come home who they regarded as the true heros of Iwo Jima. James Bradley made an interesting point that was featured toward the end of the movie: The creation of heroes is our attempt at making sense of an otherwise incomprehensible situation. The picture taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal immediately became an icon for American victory in the war. The seventh and final war bond drive featured the Suribachi photo and the three surviving men from the photo as the centerpieces of the drive, raising over $26 billion, twice the goal of the drive.
The movie helped me to remember that the impact of what we are doing out here, so far from home, can have a direct impact on life back home. It put into perspective the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, and the magnitude of service we have committed to today. It's a sobering thought. I think about my grandfather, Ernie, descending over Belgium in a glider as a member of the 101st Airborne Division in 1945, probably just as scared as those kids who were trodding through black sand and mortar fire on Iwo Jima. There was so little I knew about him and the sacrifices he and his family made for our country. What went through his mind as he sat in camps in England for weeks and months, waiting for his turn to go? I was blessed to know him for a while and to hear a handful of stories, but there was so much left to be said. So much I didn't know and never asked. He was a great man, to be sure, and I miss him. He was a hero in my book.
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3 comments:
He was my hero too, because of all the things he taught me about honesty, hard work and commitment. I also did not ask him enough questions about his time in WWII. He did not seem to want to talk about it much. I think he shared more with Uncle Steve and Aunt Brenda during his last years
Thank you for the thoughtful review of "Flags...." I've wanted to see it and now I'll make sure that I do so.
I think that Grandpa Ernie chose not to tell us much about his wartime experiences, because he did not want to re-live them in the re-telling. Only in his final years did I hear a few of his stories, and it was usually the result of a question from his grandkids or their spouses. As Nana said, he was a role model for terrific values. Too bad more people don't have access to role models like him.
I can't wait to see the movie. I am currently reading the book. Not sure how the movie gets into the lives of the "flag raisers", but the book goes into depth of each young man. It's amazing to think about how young the majority of our servicemen and women are. To look at the ones giving their lives in Iraq is amazing. They ALL volunteered for this. I know I am preaching to the choir, but we ALL need to keep them in our prayers (even the ones "safe" on the ships).
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