thedrifter
04-17-07, 02:16 PM
Author: Photo keeps heroism in view
Never was bravery more evident than on Iwo Jima, he says
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
BY LYNN MONSON
Assistant Metro Editor
At a time when the definition of a hero has expanded broadly, the captivating story of heroism on Iwo Jima during World War II is kept alive today by the famous photograph of U.S. Marines raising the American flag over the island, a best-selling author said at a local appearance Monday.
Just as the widely reproduced photo captured the country's attention in 1945, the story behind the men raising the flag continues to intrigue the public, author James Bradley told several hundred people at a Washtenaw Economic Club luncheon Monday.
Bradley, the son of one of the men in the photo, wrote "Flags of Our Fathers,'' which was a bestseller within two weeks of its release in 2000. A motion picture by the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Clint Eastwood, was released last fall.
"If you change somebody's tire out on the highway, you are Time magazine's new hero of the month,'' Bradley said. True heroism was never more intensely demonstrated in the country's history than on Iwo Jima, he said.
He called the monthlong battle in February 1945 "America's most decorated heroic moment.'' More medals of valor were awarded there than for any other battle in U.S. history.
About 6,800 Americans and 21,000 Japanese died on the five-mile-long island.
Bradley's appearance at the Marriott at Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti Township had a more patriotic tone than most of the high-profile speakers the club sponsors. Dozens of veterans, including several from World War II, were asked to stand to be recognized by the audience.
Organizers also acknowledged family members of the late Joe Rodriguez, an Ann Arbor man with ties to the flag-raising photo.
In a 1995 Ann Arbor News story for the 50th anniversary of the battle, Rodriguez recalled how he left the top of Mount Suribachi to collect rocks to help steady the flag pole. While, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the well-known photo. A different photo by Rosenthal captured Rodriguez and a larger group of his comrades.
Bradley's father, John, a Navy corpsman, had rarely talked about the war or his role in the famous photograph. After his death in 1994, family members discovered some Iwo Jima mementos in his office closet, a discovery that prompted James Bradley to begin a quest to interview people who knew his father and the other men in the famous photo.
John Bradley and the two other men in the photo who survived Iwo Jima were brought home a few weeks after the battle and sent on a national War Bond tour to raise money for the war effort. James Bradley noted that during that war, the war budget was separate from the national budget. "The American public had to approve the war by buying war bonds,'' he said.
And they did. With the famous photo and three of its participants serving as the inspiration for the two-month tour to 33 cities, including Detroit, Americans purchased $26.3 billion in bonds - more than double what the government had hoped for.
Asked during a question-and-answer session if he sees any parallels between the current war on terror and the American response to the Japanese attack that started the U.S. involvement in World War II, Bradley had a one-word answer: "No.''
Lynn Monson can be reached at 734-994-6834 or lmonson@annarbornews.com.
Ellie
Never was bravery more evident than on Iwo Jima, he says
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
BY LYNN MONSON
Assistant Metro Editor
At a time when the definition of a hero has expanded broadly, the captivating story of heroism on Iwo Jima during World War II is kept alive today by the famous photograph of U.S. Marines raising the American flag over the island, a best-selling author said at a local appearance Monday.
Just as the widely reproduced photo captured the country's attention in 1945, the story behind the men raising the flag continues to intrigue the public, author James Bradley told several hundred people at a Washtenaw Economic Club luncheon Monday.
Bradley, the son of one of the men in the photo, wrote "Flags of Our Fathers,'' which was a bestseller within two weeks of its release in 2000. A motion picture by the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Clint Eastwood, was released last fall.
"If you change somebody's tire out on the highway, you are Time magazine's new hero of the month,'' Bradley said. True heroism was never more intensely demonstrated in the country's history than on Iwo Jima, he said.
He called the monthlong battle in February 1945 "America's most decorated heroic moment.'' More medals of valor were awarded there than for any other battle in U.S. history.
About 6,800 Americans and 21,000 Japanese died on the five-mile-long island.
Bradley's appearance at the Marriott at Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti Township had a more patriotic tone than most of the high-profile speakers the club sponsors. Dozens of veterans, including several from World War II, were asked to stand to be recognized by the audience.
Organizers also acknowledged family members of the late Joe Rodriguez, an Ann Arbor man with ties to the flag-raising photo.
In a 1995 Ann Arbor News story for the 50th anniversary of the battle, Rodriguez recalled how he left the top of Mount Suribachi to collect rocks to help steady the flag pole. While, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the well-known photo. A different photo by Rosenthal captured Rodriguez and a larger group of his comrades.
Bradley's father, John, a Navy corpsman, had rarely talked about the war or his role in the famous photograph. After his death in 1994, family members discovered some Iwo Jima mementos in his office closet, a discovery that prompted James Bradley to begin a quest to interview people who knew his father and the other men in the famous photo.
John Bradley and the two other men in the photo who survived Iwo Jima were brought home a few weeks after the battle and sent on a national War Bond tour to raise money for the war effort. James Bradley noted that during that war, the war budget was separate from the national budget. "The American public had to approve the war by buying war bonds,'' he said.
And they did. With the famous photo and three of its participants serving as the inspiration for the two-month tour to 33 cities, including Detroit, Americans purchased $26.3 billion in bonds - more than double what the government had hoped for.
Asked during a question-and-answer session if he sees any parallels between the current war on terror and the American response to the Japanese attack that started the U.S. involvement in World War II, Bradley had a one-word answer: "No.''
Lynn Monson can be reached at 734-994-6834 or lmonson@annarbornews.com.
Ellie