top1371
06-30-03, 06:47 PM
A story that was sent to me......
> Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class
> from Clinton, WI, 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.
>
> Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed
> towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the
> statue, and as I got closer 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."
>
> (James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the
> memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to
> his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he
saw
> the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his
> permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to
tour
> the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington,D.C., but it is
> quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)
>
> When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his
> words that night.)
>
> "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 Fathers" which is #5
on
> the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six
> boys you see behind me.
>
> "Six boys 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 with his intestines in
his
> hands. I don't say that to gross you out, 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.
>
> (He pointed to the statue) "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 go kill some
> Japanese' or '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 Pima 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?'
>
> So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together
having
> fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but
only
> 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images
of
> horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32
> ... ten years after this picture was taken.
>
> "The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop,
> Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70,
told
> me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop
General
> Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get
down.
> Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was
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. When Walter Cronkite's
producers,
> or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say,
> 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No,
there
> is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My
dad
> never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right
at
> the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that
he
> was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press. 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, 7,000 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.
>
> We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us
to
> live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice. Let us never forget from
the
> Revolutionary War to the Gulf War and all the wars in-between that
sacrifice
> was made for our freedom.
>
>
> Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class
> from Clinton, WI, 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.
>
> Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed
> towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the
> statue, and as I got closer 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."
>
> (James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the
> memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to
> his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he
saw
> the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his
> permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to
tour
> the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington,D.C., but it is
> quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)
>
> When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his
> words that night.)
>
> "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 Fathers" which is #5
on
> the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six
> boys you see behind me.
>
> "Six boys 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 with his intestines in
his
> hands. I don't say that to gross you out, 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.
>
> (He pointed to the statue) "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 go kill some
> Japanese' or '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 Pima 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?'
>
> So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together
having
> fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but
only
> 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images
of
> horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32
> ... ten years after this picture was taken.
>
> "The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop,
> Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70,
told
> me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop
General
> Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get
down.
> Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was
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. When Walter Cronkite's
producers,
> or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say,
> 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No,
there
> is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My
dad
> never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right
at
> the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that
he
> was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press. 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, 7,000 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.
>
> We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us
to
> live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice. Let us never forget from
the
> Revolutionary War to the Gulf War and all the wars in-between that
sacrifice
> was made for our freedom.
>
>