THE BOYS OF IWO JIMA
Each year I travel to Washington D.C. with the eighth grade class,
from Clinton, Wisconsin, where I grew up, to videotape their trip.
I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take
some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially
memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima Memorial.
This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of
the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers
raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the Island of Iwo
Jima, Japan during WW II.
We piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial, where I
noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue. As I approached him,
he asked, "Where are you guys from?" I told him that we were from
Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a Cheesehead too! Come gather around Cheeseheads,
and I will tell you a story."
His name is James Bradley and he just happened to be in Washington
D.C. to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that evening
to say goodnight to his dad, who had passed away. I videotaped him as he
spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my
videotape.
Touring the incredible monuments in Washington, DC, is spectacular,
but it can't compare to the insight we received that night. When we had
gathered around him, he reverently began to speak...
"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is
on that statue, and I just wrote a book called "Flags of Our Father's"
which is #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list right now. It is the
story of the six boys you see behind me. The six boys who raised the flag.
"The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon
was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all
the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another
type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game.
Harlon, at the age of 21, died horribly. I say that because there are
generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war.
You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and
19 years old.
"You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you
took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken, and looked in
the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph. A photograph of
his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection, because he was
scared. He was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not
old men. The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant
Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They
called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When
Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, "Let's die
for our country." He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead, he
would say, "You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers."
"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pema Indian
from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House
with my dad. President Truman told him, "You're a hero." He told
reporters, "How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the
island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?
"The next guy, going around the statue is Franklin Sousley from
Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima
at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was
dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that
telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all
night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue is my dad, John
Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until
1994, but he would never give interviews. You see, my dad didn't see
himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are
in a photo and a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John
Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over
200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and
screamed in pain.
"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad
was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and
said, "I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the
guys who did not come back -- did NOT come back."
"So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo
Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7000 boys died on
Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice
is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."
Suddenly the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag
sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the
heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero.
Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero
nonetheless. |
