Author: "staar" <staar@...> Time: Sun Nov 10, 2002 5:37 am PST Link
>
> Interesting read, thought many of you would be interested....
> Subject: Iwo Jima
>
> 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 7000 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 none-the-less.
>
> 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. Remember to
> pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for
> those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP, and thank
> God for being alive at someone else's sacrifice. God Bless
> Barry Hancock
Author: "Bob & Lucille Olds" <oldsfolks@...> Time: Sun Nov 10, 2002 2:52 pm PST Link
That is a moving story ! I wasn't involved in that war ; I was in the
Korean "Police Action". One of my fellow 18 year old workers was an
early causualty there , leaving a younger brother who had been raised
by his older brother.
War IS hell ! Not for the polititicians , but for the boys .
Thanks for posting the Iwo Jima Story.
Bob Olds RV-4 , N1191X
Charleston,Arkansas
Author: "Rob Ray" <smokyray@...> Time: Mon Nov 11, 2002 10:14 am PST Link
Ditto on the Thanks. I am currently on active duty flying the F16
and have served several tours flying CAP's over Iraq. My unit is
currently ready for whatever comes our way from SWA. NINE of us F16
guys in my SQ fly RV's too. Thanks for the good words, we don't hear
that very often.
Rob Ray
--- In RV-4@y..., "Bob & Lucille Olds" <oldsfolks@a...> wrote:
> That is a moving story ! I wasn't involved in that war ; I was in
the
> Korean "Police Action". One of my fellow 18 year old workers was
an
> early causualty there , leaving a younger brother who had been
raised
> by his older brother.
> War IS hell ! Not for the polititicians , but for the boys .
> Thanks for posting the Iwo Jima Story.
>
> Bob Olds RV-4 , N1191X
> Charleston,Arkansas
Author: "vurticle1" <ggrant@...> Time: Tue Nov 12, 2002 12:03 pm PST Link
You just caused a grown man to cry at the office. Thank you for the
great story. My grandfather (86 years) has just now shared some of his
experiances from the war and his experiances in the battle of the
bulge. This struck home very quickly for me.
We now need to brace ourselves for the next one as it seems to be on
the horizon in the East. For those in our group that are in service
protecting our rights and the rights of those throughout the world,
god speed and fly safe.
General
--- In RV-4@y..., "Bob & Lucille Olds" <oldsfolks@a...> wrote:
> That is a moving story ! I wasn't involved in that war ; I was in the
> Korean "Police Action". One of my fellow 18 year old workers was an
> early causualty there , leaving a younger brother who had been raised
> by his older brother.
> War IS hell ! Not for the polititicians , but for the boys .
> Thanks for posting the Iwo Jima Story.
>
> Bob Olds RV-4 , N1191X
> Charleston,Arkansas
Author: "svanarts" <svanarts@...> Time: Thu Nov 14, 2002 8:03 am PST Link
I'm grateful to all those boys who died, scared and alone on a
forgotton battlefield. May God give them rest until we all wake up
in Glory. Pray for our boys of today that they may never have to
die scared and alone on a forgotton battlefield.