Flags of our Fathers,a movie inspired by the battle that

occurred at

Iwo Jima

Flags of our Fathers follows the lives of the 3 surviving men that raised the flag on Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima’s Location: Japan and the US valued the sulfurous island Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima was Japanese home soil, part of Japan, only 650 miles from Tokyo. It was administered by the Tokyo metropolitan government. No foreign army in Japan's 5000 year history had trod on Japanese soil. To the US, Iwo Jima's importance lay in its location, midway between

Japan and an American bomber bases in the Marianas. Since the summer of 1944, the Japanese main islands had been reeling

from strikes by the new, long range B-29's. The US, however, had no protective fighters with enough range to escort the big super fortresses.

Many bombers fell prey to Japanese fighter-interceptor attacks. Iwo, with its three airfields, was ideally located as a fighter-escort station. It was also

an ideal sanctuary for crippled bombers returning from Japan.

This map shows how the U.S. took Iwo Jima.

The Iwo Jima Flag Raisers

• There are six Flag Raisers. Four in the front line and two in back. The front four are (left to right) Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley and Harlon Block.

• The back two are Michael Strank (behind Sousley) and Rene Gagnon (behind Bradley).

Mike Strank » Born -1919 Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia.

Died - 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan. » The leader and Sergeant, it was Mike who got the

order to climb Mt. Suribachi.» He led the boys safely to the top. Mike explained

to the boys that the larger flag had to be raised so that "every Marine on this cruddy island can see it." It was Mike who gave the orders to find a pole, attach the flag and "put'er up!" Mike's right hand is the only hand of a flag raiser not on the pole. His right hand is around the wrist of Franklin Sousley, helping the younger man push the heavy pole. This is typical of Mike, the oldest of the flag raisers, always there to help one of his boys. Mike died on March 1, 1945. He was hit by a mortar as he was diagramming a plan in the sand for his boys. Mike is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Harlon Block  » Born - 1924 Yorktown, Texas. 

Died - 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.

Harlon was an outgoing daredevil with many friends at Weslaco High School. A natural athlete, Harlon led the Weslaco Panther Football Team to the Conference Championship. He was honored as "All South Texas End." Harlon and twelve of his teammates enlisted in the Marine Corps together in 1943. Harlon was Sgt. Mike's second-in-command. He took over the leadership of his unit when Sgt. Mike was killed. Harlon was killed by a mortar blast hours later on March 1 at the age of 21.

Harlon is buried beside the Iwo Jima

Monument in Harlingen, Texas.

Franklin Sousley Born - Sept. 19, 1925 Hilltop, KY. 

Died - March 21, 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.

Franklin was a red-haired, freckle-faced "Opie Taylor" raised on a tobacco farm. His favorite hobbies were hunting and dancing. Fatherless at 9, Franklin became the main man in his mother's life. Franklin enlisted at 17 and sailed

for the Pacific on his 18th Birthday. Franklin was the last flag-raiser to die on Iwo Jima, on March 21 at the age of 19. When word reached his mother that Franklin was dead, "You could hear her screaming clear across the fields at the neighbor's farm."

Franklin is buried at Elizaville Cemetery, Kentucky.

Ira Hayes  Born - January 12, 1923 Sacaton, Arizona Died - January 24, 1955 Bapchule, Arizona

Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian. When he enlisted in the Marine Corps, he had hardly ever been off the Reservation. His Chief told him to be an "Honorable Warrior" and bring honor upon his family. Ira was a dedicated Marine. Quiet and steady, he was admired by his fellow Marines who fought alongside him in three Pacific battles. When Ira learned that President Roosevelt wanted him and the other survivors to come back to the US to raise money on the 7th Bond Tour, he was horrified. To Ira, the heroes of Iwo Jima, those deserving honor, were his "good buddies" who died there. In 1954, Ira reluctantly attended the dedication of the Iwo Jima monument in Washington. After a ceremony where he was lauded by President Eisenhower as a hero once again, a reporter rushed up to Ira and asked him, "How do you like the pomp & circumstances?" Ira just hung his head and said, “I don't.”

Ira died three months later after a night of drinking. As Ira drank his last bottle of whiskey he was crying and mumbling about his "good buddies." Ira was 32.

Rene Gagnon  Born - Manchester, N.H. March 7, 1925 

Died - Manchester, N.H. October 12, 1979  Rene Gagnon was the youngest

survivor and the man who carried the flag up Mt. Suribachi. He was the first survivor to arrive back in the US. Rene was modest about his achievement throughout his life.

Rene is honored with a special room in New Hampshire's prestigious WrightMuseum.

Rene is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the Flag Raiser buriedclosest to the Marine Corps Memorial.

John Bradley  Born - July 10, 1923 Antigo, WI. Died - January 11, 1994 Antigo, WI.

"Doc" Bradley was a Navy Corpsman who "just jumped in to lend a hand." He won the Navy Cross for heroism and was wounded in both legs. Bradley, a quiet, private man, gave just one interview in his life. In it he said . . . "People refer to us as heroes--I personally don't look at it that way. I just think that I happened to be at a certain place at a certain time and anybody on that island could have been in there--and we certainly weren't heroes--and I speak for the rest of them as well. That's the way

they thought of themselves also."

The Global Media reported the death of a World

War II icon on January 11, 1994 at the age of 70.

This is the Iwo Jima Memorial Statue. Built in honor of the Marines that lost their lives for their county.