Tale of Six Boys
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
cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, 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 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.
(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy?
That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshir e. 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 on 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, 7,000 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
nonetheless.
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 current War on Terrorism 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 and being free at someone else's
sacrifice.
God Bless You and God Bless America.
REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's
going to be a great day.
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
cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, 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 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.
(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy?
That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshir e. 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 on 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, 7,000 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
nonetheless.
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 current War on Terrorism 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 and being free at someone else's
sacrifice.
God Bless You and God Bless America.
REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's
going to be a great day.
