This post is an excerpt from a speech made by Jim Bradley,
the son of one of the Marines who hoisted the American Flag on Iwo Jima.
It's worth a read, and passing along to our younger generations who see old
Vets as just a bunch of decrepit old men, wearing their ribbons and strange hats.
When these old geezers were heroes, they were just teenagers ripped from farms
or factories to become heroes remembered forever in the Iwo Jima Monument
adjacent to the Arlington National Cemetery.
James Bradley visited the Iwo Jima Memorial to say say good night to his dad, who had recently passed away. He stayed a bit longer to tell a busload of Wisconsin school kids about his dad and the teenagers who hoisted the American Flag after fighting to gain control of Iwo Jima, a now insignificant 10 square mile island in the Pacific during World War 2.
The island was defended by 21,000 Japanese soldiers,
19,000 of whom were killed.
US Marines suffered 26,000 casualties,
with more than 6,800 killed.
The battle lasted 36 days,
and progress was measured in yards!
The island was significant as it had three airfields from which the Japanese could launch fighters and bombers to attack US war ships. By seizing the island and its airfields, the US gained a strategic launch point for bombers to attack Mainland Japan -- to end the war.
Jim addressed the young students:
My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers'. It is the story of the six boys, raising the flag, you see behind me.
Young boys raised the flag.
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| CPL 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 people 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 - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it
Pointing to the statue, he said
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| Rene Gagnon |
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 of his girlfriend Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared.
He was only 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men!
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| SGT 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 young 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 was one of those who lived to walk off Iwo Jima . He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero'
Ira 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?'
That was Ira Hayes.
He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down, drowned in a very shallow puddle, at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).
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| PFC Franklin Sousley |
The next guy, going around the statue, is PFC 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.
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| CPL Harold Schultz |
As it turns out, the sixth Marine in the Iwo Jima monument was Corporal Harold Schultz, from Detroit, Michigan.
He completed his tour with the Marines and made a lifetime career of the US Postal Service, rarely mentioning his combat role in Iwo Jima.
[the combat photographer, Joe Rosenthal, confirmed Schultz's role in this flag raising.
Jim Bradley mistakenly placed his dad, John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin in this flag raising.
In fact, there were two flag raising, the first was captured by a Marine photographer, who was injured by a grenade blast which damaged his camera and destroyed his film. The iconic Iwo Jima Memorial is based on the second flag raising to replace the first flag which was battle scarred.
John Bradley from Wisconsin was a combat caregiver. On Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died.
And when boys died on Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.
John Bradley was no slackard as he was awarded the Navy Cross, plus a Purple Heart. He helped raise the First American Flag on Iwo Jima.
Jim Bradley added that, when he was a little boy, his teacher told him his dad was a hero. When he went home and told his dad that, he said,
I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back.
They did NOT come back.
So that's the story about the 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.
Footnote:
In one of the greatest insults to American Veterans,
President Obama closed all the Military Memorials in October 2013, to include the Iwo Jima Memorial, encircled them with barriers, and posted armed Park Police to keep visitors out - advising his budget was insufficient to maintain the memorials.
In fact, the memorials required little or no upkeep, and remained accessible for many years until Obama shut them down.
Vets rebelled, collected the barriers and tossed them over the White House fence into the front yard.
Our Military should remember this action when they consider casting a vote for a Democrat, any Democrat in the next election; Obama was a singular scoundrel, but, that seems to be the template for Democrat politicians these days - they are definitely NOT the friend of our Military!
