Battle Of Iwo Jima In The Film Flags Of Our Fathers

On February 23, 1945 a “41-man” patrol was sent up to raise the flag on Mount Suribachi. “Raising the flag means a Marine Corps for the next five years.” General Holland Smith agreed that the flag would be the Navy Secretary’s souvenir. Colonel Chandler Johnson wanted to put another one up, but bigger, therefore the second flag was put up. The second flag was recovered by a sinking ship at Pearl

There is one scene where the three flag raisers entered a crowded stadium before a football game which typified how an image of war can be so different to the reality of war. The flash photography, the cheering, the roar of the crowd all went to John Bradley’s head and he had flash backs of the fighting on Iwo Jima and the genuine heroes that he had left behind. This scene contrasts what the reality of war, were all the men are dug in and fighting for there life, and the images of war. Ira Hayes says “I know it’s a good thing, raising the money and that, ‘cause we need it. But, I can’t take them calling me a hero. All I did was try not to get shot. Some of the things I saw done, things I did, they weren’t things to be proud of, you know?” Clint Eastwood shows continuously, through his characters physiology shows how one single photo can be so different what really makes up the battle of Iwo Jima. The aim was to get war bonds; the minds of the three main characters through Clint Eastwood’s directing showed a strong insight to how the reality of a war and an image of war can be so contrasting.

Iwo Jima veteran, Hershel Woodrow Williams remembers, “The flag going up on Mount Suribachi, on Japanese territory, was something that we as marines really needed.”

In February of 1944, the U.S. launched Operation Detachment, an effort to seize control of an important island close to Japan. Iwo Jima could provide a launching point for bombers flying to the Japanese Home Islands and help to defeat the Japanese.

In February of 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066; this gave the foundation for the mass relocation of more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. This mass relocation caused Japanese Americans -on the West Coast- to be removed from their homes for the majority of World War II. After a year of surviving in addition to waiting in the camps, the Japanese Nisei were allowed to join the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Making up the entirety of the regiment, the Japanese Nisei fought for their country during the events of World War II. During these events, the Japanese Nisei compromised their self-pride along with their lives for their country. Notwithstanding the fact of facing the battle on two fronts -the prejudice at home plus the fight on the enemy’s front- the Japanese Nisei of the 442nd RCT (Regimental Combat Team) came back from the war as Japanese American citizens, not “Japs.”

he Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the Second World War in which the US Armed Forces captured the Iwo Jima Island from the Japanese. More than 6800 American servicemen lost their lives in the battle and thus the battle has come to known as the deadliest battle in Marine Corps history. Iwo Jima was an island strategically positioned and highly fortified as its three airfields were used to stage attacks on the US at the Pacific War. It was therefore Americas target to capture the island and use it to stage attacks on Japans mainland and use the airfields as emergency landing strips for the US Navy planes damaged during war. According to The Washington Post a small group gathered on Thursday February 18th

' 'No one who was at Iwo Jima can analyze the battle objectively. The carnage was so horrifying that the blood and agony of the struggle saturated one 's mind . . . Iwo was unlike any war I had ever seen. It was a fight to the finish, with no man asking for quarter until he was dead . . . all except a few score of the

3) Japanese strategy was for each Soldier to kill 10 Americans before they themselves are killed (The Battle – Japan’s Iwo Jima Strategy, n.d.). On top of that, Iwo Jima would have to be reinforced significantly if it were going to be held for any length of time, and preparations were made to send sizable numbers of men and quantities of materiel to that island.

On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3

“Flags of Our Fathers” is a book by Author, James Bradley. Bradley tells the true American account of great valor and courage of five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman. On a small rocky island south of Japan. As well as the power of a photograph that wreaked havoc with the lives of everyone in it and influenced the course of a war. He follows the six men who fought on “Sulfur Island” in the Battle of Iwo Jima during the Pacific phase of World War II. One of the bloodiest and brutal military engagements in American history lasting only thirty six days. James Bradley is the son of John Bradley, the Navy Corpsman and a member of Third Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines during the amphibious invasion when they

Operation Detachment (19 February – 26 March 1945) - The thirty six days of unforgiving hell on a small, wretched patch of volcanic sand and rock named "Sulfur Island " ( Iōjima - Iwo Jima in Japanese), will forever be immortalized in the iconic photo of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi. The American invasion of Iwo Jima had the goal of capturing the island, including its three airfields. Owning operational airfields, across the vast Pacific Ocean en route to the Japanese mainland was an invaluable commodity. American

Pearl Harbor, located in Hawaii's many island’s was well known for being the best of the best military installations as early as 1898.  On December 7, 1941 At 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese navy Airplanes and Midget Submarines. The Attack on Pearl harbor killed 2,403 Americans with 1,178 others wounded in action, causing American Entry of World War II. We must First look into the motives of the Americans and Japanese to understand what was significant about Pearl Harbor and the reason they were there, Secondly we must figure out the reaction of the thousands of American Troops Stationed in Pearl harbor at

As many consider these wounded men lost causes, Doss worked through the day and night to revive his fellow men. As dozens of wounded men rappel down the cliff, the units belows are shocked, and Doss’ courage inspired the American army to finish the battle which led to the surrender of the Japanese on the Island of Okinawa. The film flawlessly embodies two major themes of the AP United States History curriculum: (1) American and National Identity and (2) Culture and Society. Therefore, considering that the film takes into account the role of ideas, beliefs, social mores, and creative expression of Desmond Doss, the theme of Culture and Society is extremely applicable; In addition, the theme of American and National Identity embodies the movie because of the focus on the values that have developed, as well as on topics such as foreign policy, assimilation, and American

In 1993, a plan to build an exhibit of the Enola Gay in the National Air and Space Museum received immense amounts of criticism from military historians, journalists, and veterans, as they felt that it didn’t correctly portray the Japanese and those in the American armed forces during the war. The book’s authors offer theories ranging from historical context, how Japan’s role in the war was interpreted, the American people’s discomfort regarding Truman’s order to drop the bomb, the mood of Americans during Vietnam, and the American lives spared as a result of the bomb.

The Academy Award-winning movie Pearl Harbor (2001), the portrayal of the tragedy and heroics of the attack on the Naval and Army forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, captured the hearts of Americans all over the country. But how accurate was this portrayal? Does this really depict the true happenings of that infamous day, or is this another Hollywood attempt to enstill a deeper message into the minds of movie-goers? Although it was based on the true happenings of that day in 1941, many of the movie’s key aspects were historically inaccurate, and we will focus on some of those key aspects.