Suribachi only three men survived. The book shows the effects that the famous picture had on the three surviving heroes. Apparently, the government took advantage of the picture to better the reputation that the war had and to influence people into raising more and more money to fund the battle. James Bradley expertly recounted the steps that brought the three remaining soldiers to the point when they had been virtually haunted by the picture's fame. In spite of the fact that Iwo Jima had been captured only after the picture has been made, the whole world had been certain that the photograph had been taken when the Americans had conquered the island. Bradley speaks about how the battle had lasted for several days and how Strank, Block, and Sousey had fallen victims to the war. The author describes how the dreams and the idealism that people relate to when thinking about the war are nothing but false impressions.

Bradley proves to have an amazing ability to narrate as he presents the real occurrences that lead to the taking of the picture. It seems that the flag displayed in the photograph had only been a replacement flag which a commander had ordered the soldiers to raise in order for all of the nearby soldiers to see. The six flag-raisers accidentally happened to be on top of Mt. Suribachi at the right time as they had just made a communication there. Joe Rosenthal had also been there by accident as he had missed the raising of the first flag just...

Their fame did not come as a good thing however, because the three had been traumatized by the battles they had just witnessed. What they considered to be inexcusable had been the fact that their country did not appreciate them for their jobs as fine soldiers, but for a simple picture that showed nothing from the war zone. After his father's death, James found a Navy Cross won by his father two days before he had been photographed by Rosenthal. As stated by the author, his father did not mention anything related to the decoration or to the circumstances that won him the reward.
James Bradley follows the lives of the three surviving flag-raisers to the moment when they die. The happenings from the war had left them devastated and only John Bradley managed to recuperate from the trauma. Ira Hayes turned to drinking in order to ameliorate his sorrow and eventually died in 1955 as a result of drinking large quantities of alcohol. Rene Gagnon passed away after several attempts to return to his lifestyle previous to the war.

James Bradley has been successful in writing an extraordinary book meant to make the difference between a famous war picture and the actual war with its disturbing effects.

Works Cited

Bradley, James & Powers the great, Ron Flags of Our Fathers. Bantam, 2000