» Flags of Our Fathers (Movie Tie-in Edition)

Flags of Our Fathers (Movie Tie-in Edition) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: the horror, the cost, the dignity
Comment: James Bradley has written a loving chronicle of a battle of almost unimaginable horror that took place on the unlikely volcanic island that has embedded its name in military and our national history as 'Iwo Jima'. His father was caught up in the events that unfolded on that diminutive, blood-soaked island, but also in the well-intention civilian environment back home, where the War Bond campaign seemed noble enough to justify almost any means.

Anyone tempted to bury Iwo Jima in the impersonal language of large, inhuman forces that is characteristic of a historiography which scoffs at the idea that Great Men change history ought to read this book at least as carefully as Bradley has crafted it. Men and women, many whose names now require special effort if they are to be remembered, laid down an incalculable sacrifice to secure this island stepping stone in the Second War's Pacific Campaign. There was nothing romantic about the task they were asked to accomplished. In fact, it was Wartime Romance that disfigured the lives of several of Bradley's protagonists.

Yet somehow, these warriors performed the actions that large men required of them. Most of them would simply prefer to forget what they saw there on Iwo Jima.

They should be afforded that luxury. The rest of us should not.

Something salutatory happens when a nation remembers the sacrifices that made it what it has come to be, particularly when it does so without assigning heroic nobility to men and women who more accurately describe their work as simple duty. A reader, properly in awe of duty's extreme measures, can still stand in awe of it.

This is their due and the responsibility of those of us who wish to be responsible remembrers.

James Bradley helps us on that way as few writers can.

He has written an awesome, astonishing, ennobling book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A must read, but it's an emotional ride...........
Comment: Perhaps the best book I've ever read. This book captures the action, the drama, the immense human sacrifices paid by the soldiers, their courage, the brutality of war, the history of the era and the war, the biographical background of the young soldiers and their families both before, during and after the war. Superb isn't strong enough to describe how well written this book is as it tells an amazing story about our young men you go off to war to save their country and the world from ruthless military dictatorships. The stories are gut wrenching and tear jerking. You will travel into the belly of the beast that is war and be nourished by the courage and committment to the mission's success and emotionally devastated by the carnage and loss of life and limb that followed these poor souls 24/7. The men and women who fought in WW2 truly were American's greatest generation. Read this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: I gave this as a birthday gift to my husband and I finished reading it before he did. I thought it was well researched and written. Very sad, but helped me understand what they went through. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the famous picture and statue.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story of humility
Comment: I was very surprised after reading this book to learn that the flagraising on Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima was nothing more than a simple replacement flag implant. These six men were brought together from all parts of the country, assigned to Iwo Jima along with thousands of other young American men and women, and by sheer circumstance, helped one another replace a crippled original flag on top of the mountain. A photographer happened to snap a shot of the flagraising, and instantly became a national symbol of courage and eventually the monument of The Marine Corps Memorial. The book is filled with clear images of life for a World War II soldier (Pacific Theater), strength, love, friendship, humility, fear, courage, and extreme struggle. I recommend this book to every American citizen.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for all Americans
Comment: This book is a poignant reminder that freedom is never free. The book is as much a tribute to the men who gave their lives on the island of Iowa Jima as it is an exploration of the lives of those who raised the flag in one of the most iconic photos of all time. Flags of our Fathers aptly illustrates the bravery of our servicemen in the bloodiest battle in the history of the Marines. Every American needs to read Bradley's description of this battle and the human cost of our victory in WWII.

Bradley deftly humanizes the flag raisers, painting their lives with careful detail. He is always fair, portraying their successes and failures with an even, historical tone. At times there is a sentimental quality to his writing, but this doesn't detract from the book as a whole. Who would not have a certain level of sentimentality writing about their war-hero father and his comrades?

This book is a captivating examination of all that is right, and unfortunately, all that is wrong with America and the WWII era. The selflessness of the servicemen both in combat and then as part of war bond drives is both heroic and admirable. The way the US government treated these men, and the way they preyed on their heroism is disgusting and shameful. The US propaganda machine, the racism suffered by the Native American Ezra Hayes, and the failure to offer our soldiers any real counseling or assistance with their mental health after their return to the States are equally disgraceful.

It would be nice, if some 60 years later things had changed, but just go to a movie theater and wait for a National Guard commercial, and you'll realize that as a Nation we are still using our servicemen and women as pawns in political machinations. Research the way soldiers returning from Iraq suffering PTSD are being treated, and it quickly becomes apparent that we have many of the same problems now that we did then. We need to start acknowledging our soldier's bravery and sacrifice without entangling them in the dirty world of politics. We also need to take responsibility for their mental health after we send them to war.

Flags of our Fathers does not take a stance on the modern context of these issues. It doesn't need to. It describes what America did well, what it didn't, and the very real consequences of both extremes in the lives of the men portrayed in the book. It should be a lesson to us all, and this is why I believe every American should read it.

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