Flags Of Our Fathers Summary

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Pages: 4

James Bradley’s book Flags of Our Fathers details the experiences of six men in their training and fighting in World War II. The six men that he follows are the marines in the famous flag-raising photo on Iwo Jima. Bradley describes these men to be the perfect representation of America at that decade: a football player from Texas, an immigrant raised in Pennsylvania, a millworker from New Hampshire, a tobacco farmer from Kentucky, a Pima Indian from a reservation in Arizona, and a quiet boy from Wisconsin.
The author introduces the book by explaining why he wanted to research these men and tell the world their story. Bradley’s father was one of the men raising the flag in the photo, but his father kept his time as a marine private, not revealing any information even to his family members. When he discovered more about his father’s heroism in the war, he became intrigued and decided that it was time people knew more about the men captured in one of the most famous war pictures of all time. Bradley did years of research, making hundreds of calls and taking many trips to learn all that he could about these mysterious six marines; he even traveled to the same hill that the flag was raised to pay his respects and leave a memorial.
Bradley introduces the men by revealing who each man is in the photo, then
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On the island the Japanese have created a complex system of underground tunnels and hidden “pillboxes” that are undetectable to the Marines, making the battle unpredictable and dangerous. The Americans battle Japanese gunfire for four days until they are able to break through the Japanese defense line and conquer Mount Suribachi. On February 24, the fifth day the marines were on the island, a group of them ascend the mountain and stake the American flag into the ground, while a reporter for the Associated Press captures the moment. The next day the photo is published in the United