"Flags of our Fathers"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews "Flags of our Fathers" written by James Bradley. "Flags of our Fathers" is the story of the tremendous struggle of the American marines preceding the raising of the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan in 1945.

From the Paper:

"It was vital that we capture the island, and it was vital to the Japanese that they prevent that capture. As the author of Flags of our Fathers says, "somehow valor overcame terror" (p. 273). The carnage was terrible: by the end of the first day less that 16% of the medical corpsmen had survived and this handful of men had to do the best it could to help tremendous numbers of casualties, many with severe injuries.
The seven men who raised the second flag at Iwo Jima were Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Harlon Block, Mike Strank, "Doc" John Bradley, and Rene Gagnon. Each of these men endured hardships and horror to get to that powerful moment. These men -- and many others -- had to crawl over bodies and body parts to advance. The first description of Harlon Block is of a man in shock, stunned by what he has seen and possibly experiencing flashbacks of horrors he had seen on other islands. These four men in the photograph represent all the agony, struggles and triumph of all the men over all the years who got our forces to that point, that day, on Iwo Jima. Men below the mountain cheered and hooted, believing the battle was over. "

More papers on "Flags of our Fathers":

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• Book Review # 96591 : "Flags of our Fathers"
• Term Paper # 107567 : "Clint Eastwood"

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