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 Wright
Museum.
Rene is buried in Arlington National
Cemetery, the Flag Raiser buried
closest 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.