''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2000) is a book by

James Bradley James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of th ...

with

Ron Powers Ron Powers (born November 18, 1941) is an American journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. His works include ''No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America''; ''White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Ha ...

about his father,

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

corpsman A hospital corpsman (HM r corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist of the United States Navy, who may also serve in a U.S. Marine Corps unit. The corresponding rating within the United States Coast Guard is health services technician (HS ...

John Bradley, and five

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph. The story follows the lives of Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Ira Hamilton Hayes, Michael Strank, Harlon Henry Block, and Franklin Runyon Sousley. The five Marines were a part of Easy

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

28th Marines The 28th Marine Regiment (28th Marines) is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. The regiment (inactive since the Vietnam War) which is part of the 5th Marine Division, fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Six ...

5th Marine Division The 5th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps ground combat division which was activated on 11 November 1943 (officially activated on 21 January 1944) at Camp Pendleton, California during World War II. The 5th Division saw its firs ...

. Strank was a

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

, Block was a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

who reported to Strank, and the rest of the Marines were privates first class. John Bradley was a

who administered first aid to Easy Company. The book is focused mainly on the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA ...

and the Marines who made the battle famous. The fighting on Iwo Jima was the only time in all of WWII in which US Marines suffered more casualties than the Japanese. Whilst the battle was still raging Rosenthal's photograph of the Marines was released and overnight gained the attention of the whole nation. In the following weeks Strank, Block, and Sousley were killed in battle and their families were notified. Bradley, Gagnon, and Hayes were sent on the 7th

War Bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

Drive and became public heroes. Even though the boys war was finished and they had raised money for their country their fight was far from over. Many of the Marines had a very hard time moving on with life after their experiences in war and the book sheds light on some of these hardships.

Controversy

Following a Marine investigation into the event it was determined that two of the six Marines featured in the book were not in the famous photograph. The men misidentified were Gagnon and Bradley, the men who were actually in the photo are Harold “Pie” Keller and Harold Schultz who were also a part of Easy Company.

Critical reception

The book spent 46 weeks on

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

nonfiction bestseller list, spending six weeks at number one.

Film adaptation

Shortly after the book's publication,

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

acquired the option for the film rights via

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a liv ...

. The film adaptation ''

Flags of Our Fathers ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2000) is a book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about his father, Navy corpsman John Bradley, and five United States Marines, who were made famous by Joe Rosenthal’s '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' photograph. ...

'', which debuted in the U.S. on October 20, 2006, was directed by

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

and produced by Eastwood,

, and

Robert Lorenz Robert Lorenz (born April 1, 1965) is an American film producer and director, best known for his collaborations with Clint Eastwood. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture three times, for ''Mystic River'' (2003), ''Letters fr ...

, with a screenplay written by

William Broyles, Jr. William Dodson Broyles Jr.
Filmreference.com. Accessed November 28, 2022. (born October 8, 1944) is an A ...

and

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

References

External links

eFilmCritic.com interview with James Bradley about ''Flags of Our Fathers''

''Booknotes'' interview with Bradley on ''Flags of Our Fathers'', July 9, 2000.
2000 non-fiction books Bantam Books books Battle of Iwo Jima Biographies adapted into films Non-fiction books about the United States Marine Corps World War II memoirs {{WWII-book-stub