Special Sub-Topic: "Flags of Our Fathers" and Iwo Jima Click Here To Play: "Flags of Our Fathers" and Iwo Jima

How many men are seen raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in the famous WW2 photo?

6. The men were Sgt. Mike Strank, Ira Hayes, John "Doc" Bradley, Franklin Sousley, Rene Gagnon, and Harlon Block.

Where was the U.S. flag planted on Iwo Jima?

Mount Suribachi. The American flag that Strank, Hayes, Bradley, Sousley, Gagnon and Block raised was not the first one hoisted on Iwo Jima. Another flag that had been raised earlier, without being photographed, was taken down and sent to the War Department as a memento.

The Japanese put up fierce, determined resistance when the U.S. Marines first landed on the beach at Iwo Jima.

False. The Japanese didn't try to repel the amphibious invasion, and didn't mount a serious defense of the beach. The U.S. Marines landed on the island and took Mount Suribachi quickly and easily. The worst of the fighting didn't come until much later.

Why did the War Department think it was important to capture Iwo Jima?

Japanese fighter planes took off from its air fields. Airplanes stationed at Iwo Jima had caused major damage to the U.S. Navy, and would surely present problems when the U.S. mounted an offensive against the Japanese mainland.

How many of the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima died in the ensuing battle?

3. Most Americans thought the flag raising marked the end of the battle. In reality, the flag was raised on February 23, the fifth day of the invasion. Heavy fighting continued for more than a month after that flag was raised. Before the battle ended, Mike Strank, Franklin Sousley and Harlon Block were killed in combat.

Which of the flag raisers was the subject of a country song recorded by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, among other artists?

Ira Hayes. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian, returned from the war suffering from what we'd now call post-combat stress syndrome. He lived out his remaining years in poverty, drinking heavily and spending a lot of time in jail. In the end, he was found dead in a roadside ditch, after a major drinking spree.

Which of the flag raisers was not a member of the Marine Corps?

John "Doc" Bradley. John "Doc" Bradley joined the Navy, reasoning that a sailor would always get to sleep in a bed with a roof over his head every night. He didn't know he'd be assigned as a Navy medical corpsman, and would have to follow the Marines into open air combat.

Heavy bombardment of Iwo Jima by the U.S. Navy, before the invasion, made the Marines' job a lot easier.

False. The Navy's bombardment of the island had almost no effect on the Japanese forces, who were safe and secure in tunnels and well-fortified bunkers all over the island.

In his final letter to his wife and family, what did Iwo Jima's commanding officer, General Kuribayashi, say?

Do not expect my return.. Kuribayashi knew the Japanese had no hope of victory, and so did his men. They hoped only to inflict massive casualties on the invading Americans, before they were killed themselves.

The Japanese military hierarchy referred to their foot soldiers as "issen gorin". What did this name imply?

Japanese soldiers were expendable, and easily replaced.. "Issen gorin" was the cost, in Japanese money, of the postcards that the Japanese Army used to mail out conscription notices. If one Japanese boy was killed in action, it cost almost nothing to send out a postcard to draft another.

The Japanese had no qualms about killing medical corpsmen.

True. Most armies observed the Geneva convention, and refrained from shooting at corpsmen who were tending to wounded soldiers. The Japanese, however, targeted medical corpsmen. After a while, medics stopped wearing their special red cross helmets, because they offered no protection during battle.

When the Marines located a bunker occupied by Japanese soldiers, what weapon were the Marines most likely to use against them?

flamethrower & flame thrower & flamethrowers & flame throwers. Marine units took heavy losses, battling to get close enough to bunkers or tunnel entrances to burn out the Japanese with flamethrowers.

Most of the American veterans James Bradley interviewed said they never saw a living Japanese soldier during their time on Iwo Jima.

True. As Bradley puts it, "the Japanese weren't on the island of Iwo Jima, they were IN it." The Japanese stayed hidden in their tunnels and bunkers, coming out only to make brief, bloody attacks on isolated Marines. American marines rarely saw the Japanese soldiers who shot at them.

After his return home, what was John "Doc" Bradley's occupaton?

Undertaker. Bradley had worked for an undertaker before the war, and eventually bought the funeral parlor at which he had been employed. Of the six men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, only Bradley returned to a fairly happy, prosperous, normal life in the United States.

John "Doc" Bradley toured Japan and re-visited Iwo Jima, years after the war ended.

False. Author James Bradley lived in Japan, came to love its culture, and asked his father to pay the country a visit, but his father had no interest in doing so. Japanese soldiers had tortured Doc Bradley's best friend "Iggy" to death, and he'd never fully forgiven the nation of Japan for that.