1. Flags of Our Fathers
By James Bradley

2. Harlon Block
Texan who joined Marines with his high school football buddies.
Seventh Day Adventist religious beliefs prohibited fighting but he went anyway
His mother, Belle, recognized her son’s photo in the paper despite misidentification.
Mike Strank’s second in command; he took over leadership of the unit after Mike was killed. He died hours later.

3. John Bradley Navy medic Won Navy Cross for valor Wounded in both legs
Went home to be a mortician
His son wrote the book

4. Franklin Sousley Raised on tobacco farm in Kentucky
Father died when he was nine; he was an only child
Died days before evacuation
Mother screamed so loud when she got the news of her son’s death, neighbors heard it clear across the fields

5. Ira Hayes Pima Indian from Arizona Earned distinction as paratrooper
Quiet disposition, greatly respected Sergeant Mike Strank
Did not want any part of photo tour
Became a heavy drinker, froze to death.
Told Harlon Block’s family of his raising the flag.

6. Rene Gagnon Grew up only son of a widow in Manchester, New Hampshire
He carried the flag up Mt. Suribachi
He saw very little combat, he was a runner
The youngest survivor, he enjoyed the fame from the photograph more than anyone else.

7. Mike Strank A Marine’s Marine
Born in Czechoslovakia, grew up in mining town in Pennsylvania
At 27, he was the oldest of the flag raisers, best known for his leadership.
Died by friendly fire. Buried at Arlington National Cemetary

8. The Military Objective
Date: February 19, 1945
Place: Iwo Jima
Mission:
Deprive Japanese of Early Warning System
Obtain Landing Strip for Damaged Bombers
SAVE AMERICAN LIVES

9. The Challenge General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s Plan:
Fight to last man. No one leaves island alive.
Heavily fortify island with extensive caves and bunkers
Lieutenant General Holland Smith’s Plan:
Bombard island for 84 days before invading
Amphibious landing of 20,000 troops
Take Mount Suribachi first and progress north until the island was secured.

10. The Battle It took four days to secure Mount Suribachi
It took another 31 days to secure the entire island
This was the only battle in WWII in which American casualties outnumbered Japanese:
US=27,000,
Japan=20,000

11. Louis Lowrey Photographer for the Leatherneck magazine.
Photographed the first flag raising.
First flag was smaller than second one, and had historical significance due to Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal’s comment, “…the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.” It was summoned down as a souvenier.

12. Joe Rosenthal
Here’s one for all time”
John Bodkin
AP Photo Editor
On the way up for the second flag raising, Rosenthal met Lowery on his way down. Lowery advised the photographers to keep going up because the summit was an excellent place to take pictures.
As the six Marines raised the flag, Rosenthal swing his camera up and snapped the photograph without using the view finder. He did not know what he got.

13. The Controversy
Following the second flag raising, Rosenthal had the Marines of Easy Company pose for a group shot, the “gung-ho” picture.
A few days after the famous picture was taken, Rosenthal was asked if he posed the picture.
Mistaking “the picture” for the “gung-ho” shot, he said yes, and was forever plagued with fabricating history.
Despite the controversy, the picture won a Pulitzer Prize.

14. The Bond Tour
The Iwo Jima Photograph becomes the symbol for the 7th war bond drive
Rene Gagnon is asked to identify the Marines in the photo
Ira Hayes threatens to kill Gagnon if he identifies him, but Gagnon buckles to Presidential pressure and reveals Hayes anyway.
Gagnon misidentifies Harlon Block as Sergeant Henry O. “Hank” Hansen, who participated in the first flag raising. Hansen died on Iwo Jima.
The bond tour raised $26.3 billion, twice the tour’s goal.

15. The Legacy
Both flags housed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia
The Medal of Honor was awarded to 27 servicemen as a result of this struggle, fourteen posthumously. This accounts for over a third of the Medals of Honor awarded during the entire Pacific War.

16. The Marine Memorial
Erection of the memorial, which was designed by Horace W. Peaslee, was begun in September It was officially dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 10, 1954, the 179th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

17. CHAPTER 1
What to look for

18. Subjects to be Explored
Author’s Purpose
Nostalgia
Rhetorical Questions

19. Chapter 1 James Bradley knows little about his father’s experience
“Happiest moment of his life”
The Bradley family travels to Iwo Jima to visit the site after his research
Bradley speaks about each raiser

20. Rhetorical Technique and Nostalgia
Bradley uses questions to pose questions to the readers
Creates feelings of timelessness by tying together images of present and past

21. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 2

22. Mothers
Religion
Personification
Characterization

23. Each Man
Bradley
Sousley
Block
Hayes
Gagnon
Strank

24. Religion Religion plays an important role in each of their life’s
Bradley and Strank are devout Catholics
Block is a Seventh-Day Adventist
Hayes’s mother was an important figure in the church

25. Mothers Mother’s influences can be seen as well
Bradley: his mother is heavily involved in his Catholic learning after his sister’s death
Strank’s faith is also tied to his mother
Sousley is extremely close to his mother after the deaths of his brother and father
Block’s mother knows he is a flag raiser and influences his beliefs
Hayes mother taught him the bible and made sure he had an education
Gagnon his close to his mother following the divorce of his parents

26. Personification Connected to America as a whole
“All of them together illuminated a great deal that was wonderful and innocent in an America that was soon to leave its own childhood forever”
“The hollows swallow up people, even history

27. Characterization
Uses interviews to create their characters and describe them

28. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 3

29. Two-Ocean War
Nazi Germany across the Atlantic; Imperial Japan across the Pacific
Japan had been a important military power for decades
Japan attempted to surround China to force them to submit
American military needed to make a stand
Marines stand up to Japan at Guadalcanal
Public view them as heroes and media played this up

30. The Two Military Branches
Issen Goren
Esprit de Corps
1 yen 5 rin: cost of mailing a draft notice postcard
A solider is expendable
Fight for emperor without and identity
Bushido “Way of the Warrior”
Surrender is a personal shame
A feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty shared by members of a particular group
Individuality was erased
Be a team
You do not win alone but as a unit
Both groups were well trained, disciplined and knew the meaning of courage and sacrifice

31. The Media’s Influence
The massive media coverage prevents Americans from ignoring Japan
We learn about it from a radio announcement
Americans are poring over newspapers to learn more about Japan

32. Individuals vs. Country
Both break down the individual
Japan:
Brainwashes their people into fighting for a faceless Emperor
Death in battle was portrayed as an honor to the family and a heroic act of the indivdiual
America:
Break down the individual and build up as team
Fought for love for each other, country, and proud spirit

33. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 4

34. Enlisting Mike Strank enlists before America enters the war
Ira Surprises his tribe enlisting
Harlon enlists despite his religion and mother’s protest
Jack enlists in the navy
Rene joins at 17

35. Bougainville “A wet hell”
Mike, Ira, and Harlon all fight the “unseen enemy”
At this time Franklin was training
Bradley was transferred to Field Medical School

36. Furlough
Ira, Mike, and Harlon return from battle “emotionally scarred”
Ira is seen as more mature while still being quiet and thoughtful
Mike informs his family he will not be returning from his next battle
Harlon informs his girlfriend he will not be coming back again either
Franklin says he will return a hero

37. Media vs Reality Island of Tarawa viewed as a “slaughter” by the media
Navy bombs could not destroy pillbox defenses
Howlin Mad Smith views it as a success however
Small group of Marines defeat 5000 Japanese soldiers
Concrete dug in guard posts

38. Motivation Why a character does what they do. Why do they enlist?
Strank: defend his home country
Hayes: defend his parents
Block: peer pressure from friends
Bradley: avoid the fighting (doesn’t want his mother to lose another child)
Gagnon: wants to look good
Franklin: be a hero

39. Media Influence Media portrays war as:
“fighting for your country” and “doing your duty”
Ira has to kill someone close up
Harlon finds himself in hand-to-hand combat
Mike has to watch countless men die
Media’s interpretation of the battle at Tarawa
Failure to the military, not to Howlin Mad

40. War Each of the three boys return “changed”
Death is never far from their thoughts
Each felt their own mortality stronger than before
Ira is sullen and his manner had changed (his mother notices this)
The war creates a conflict for each of them

41. Flags of Our Fathers
Rhetorical Triangle

42. 3 pieces Logos: Message Ethos: Author Pathos: Audience
Rational or Logical Approach
Information used to get message across
Ethos: Author
Ethical Appeal
Do they use credible sources
Pathos: Audience
Emotional Appeal
Does it make the audience feel something?

43. Analyze Media Messages
Ethos: The Author
Who is the author?
Are they credible?
What’s the ad trying to accomplish?
Logos: The Message
What are the facts/statistics used?
Pathos: The Receiver
Who is the target audience?
Is it having a desired effect?

61. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 5

62. Camp Pendleton This is where they met for the first time
All are assigned to Easy Company
Given the name “Spearhead”
Reference to play in the invasion of Japense islands

63. Camp Pendelton and Bonds
Marines learn to be rifleman
Mike takes command of Harlon, Ira, and Franklin
Rene can never fit in so he becomes a runner
Jack meets Iggy and creates a friendship with him

64. Disembarking
Harlon informs both his sister and brother he will not be returning
The men head to Camp Tarawa to begin preparation for attacking Island X
Only high staff know that Island X= Iwo Jima

65. Flags of Our Father
Chapter 6

66. Onward to Iwo Jima Marines find out that Island X is Iwo Jima
CHARRED PORK CHOP
Iwo Jima is very important to Japanese
Japanese military stationed there are shooting down American planes heading to mainland Japan to bomb it
It’s thought of as main land Japan and is part of Shinto Mythology
No foreign invader has set foot on it in 4000 years

67. Army Air Force Bombs Iwo Jima for 72 consecutive days
Meant to “soften up” the island defensives
Had no clue that black dots on map were entrances for an “underground city”

68. Lt. General Kuribayshai
Turns Iwo Jima into the most heavily fortified island of WW2
Knows exactly where they will land- a two mile strip
Allow them to land on beach and open fire when they are stuck
The Japanese must kill 10 Americans before they die
22,000 soldiers have constructed tunnels and rooms (it was estimated that only 13,000 soldiers were on the island)
Meeting rooms, housing, communication centers, hospitals

69. Fighting Japanese Military
Japanese Solider
Western Soldier
If surrounded: fight on
If injured and disabled: blow themselves up along with enemy soldiers
If surrounded: Surrender
If injured and disabled: allow themselves to be captured

70. The Navy Navy does not provide adequate bombing
Ask for 10 days only get 3
“Due to limitations on the availability of ships, difficulties of ammunition replacement, and the loss of surprise”
They wanted to “grab headlines”: Media Influence
Only bombarded for 1 day instead and were given few ships to attack
“If the Marines had received better cooperation from the Navy…our casualties would have been lower

71. Mothers and Religion
Bradley attends daily mass during his time at Camp Pendleton
Block struggles between his 7th Day Adventist beliefs and violent duties of Marines
Sousley writes to his mother “You can grow a crop of tobacco every summer, but I sure as hell can’t grow another mother like you”
Block takes outs 10,000 life insurance to only his mother
All Japanese, British, and Americans connect with their dying word “Mother”

72. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 7

73. D Day Invasion Day: February 19, 1945
Climb on soft volcanic ash not hard sand: makes each step a “lingering effort”
Vehicles bogged down in soft sand
Prevents soldiers from having a shield
Japanese soldiers wait for Americans to gather on beach
“Became targets in a shooting gallery”

74. The Charge Complete Mayhem
American tanks crushed wounded soldiers who could not get out of the way
Others were shoved to their death by those behind them
“You had to just push the guy in front of you. It was like pushing him to his death”
Some drop into a deep, terror-induced sleep during the carnage
“It became an outright slaughter

75. The Beach
The sand (volcanic ash) was almost impossible to move quickly on
It was “like climbing on talcum powder…like a bin of wheat. Like deep snow”
Does provide some benefits though
The ash absorbed many of the mortar rounds and sharpnel
Almost impossibleto not get hit
“Not getting hit was like running through rain and not getting wet

76. Veteran Leadership A calming presence
Mike Strank never loses his composure amongst the chaos
“Shepherds his boys across the sand”

77. Doc Bradley Japanese had been known to go after corpsmen
Doc saves at least three lives the first day while attending to a wound he suffered himself
Thurman Fogarty
Marine who had his arm blasted off
John Fredatovich

78. Casualties after Day 1 566 Men Killed 1755 wounded
Japanese were so well hidden that the Marines build a hospital right over them

79. Religion and War
Religion plays a huge factor during the battle as a priest that accompanies the soldiers as they laid dying
All the training in the world could not have prepared the boys for the battle
Boys being trampled
Boys being run over by their own tanks
Boys being traumatized in the middle of battle
Japanese soldiers hiding and popping out of secret areas

80. Repetition
Repetition: Repeating the same phrase to create emphasis and importance
Somehow the Marines kept advancing. Somehow discipline held. Somehow valor overcame terror and scared young men under sheet of deadly fire kept on during the basic, gritty tasks that they’d practice over and over in training.

81. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 8 and 9

82. Day 2 and 3 of Invasion
Marines spend the night waiting for a banzai charge
Banzai Charge: When soldiers rush an enemy to attack them in an element of surprise and confusion
This type of attack leaves the banzai attackers vulnerable to attacks and decimates their ranks
Battle waged on far longer than others
In Normandy the beach was quiet in 24 hours, Iwo Jima beach absorbed casualties for days

83. Easy Company Held in regimental reserve
Would be the back up to rush into the front lines if needed

84. Notable Heroes of Days 2 and 3
Jack Lucas:
Falls on two grenades in order to save his buddies
Keith Wells:
Stirs troops to attack by rushing toward the mountain alone
Fights on despite having shrapnel in his leg
Ed Pennel:
Dashed from hole to hole killing Japanese soldiers before being injured by a shell
Doc Bradley
Gives medical attention to a Marine who is shot and losing blood at a “life-threatening rate”
Stays with the Marine despite bullets flying all around and drags him to safety
Mike Strank:
Leads a banzai attack on pill boxes surprising Japanese soldiers.
Boots Thomas:
Identifies the weak spot in the mountains defenses and leads the breakthrough
In one single day (Day 3) the men of Easy Company receive:
1 Medal of Honor; four Navy Crosses; two Silver Stars; and numerous Purple Hearts

85. Casualties of War Psychologically it was a battle
Almost as if they were shooting AND getting shot at by phantoms (CH. 8)
Do what you have to do
Despite having no tanks to back them up, the Marines had to charge anyway (CH. 9)
USS Bismarck Sea is destroyed by a Kamikaze attack
Cecil Gentry: “You could see the fear of death on his (Japanese pilot) face”
644 killed, 4168 wounded, 560 unaccounted for

86. Flags of Our Fathers
Chapter 10

87. Day 4 ______________to take over the mountain
Demolition specialists get payback on pillboxes
____________were beginning to find the Japanese’s _____________tunnels
_____________(the volcano) was now surrounded except for a 400 yard gap

88. Dent in “Bushido”
Lieutenant leads about 150 from island to rendezvous with the rest of the Japanese military
Only about 25 of them make it
After they make it to the rest of the Japanese the lieutenant is asked to bow his head to chop off: dishonor for abandoning post