[PPJ]∎ [PDF] Gratis Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley Ron Powers Books

Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley Ron Powers Books

Download As PDF : Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley Ron Powers Books

Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley Ron Powers Books

A friend recommended this book to me after reading the entire thing in less than a week. I was in the midst of reading a few other books, so I said ok when he offered to lend it to me thinking that I would read it off and on and give it back to him in a couple of months. WRONG!

Within 3 hours of starting it, I had logged on to Amazon and had ordered my own copy. Within 3 days I had finished and was re-reading the parts I couldn't remember. The writing of James Bradley is good, nothing spectacular in and of itself. The story of Iwo Jima is one of the most riveting, gut-wrenching, and reverence-evoking in the history of the United States military, but I've read a few other (much more detailed) histories of Iwo Jima that did not have as profound an impact as this one did. The idea to trace the lives of a few soldiers through their battle is not a new one either.

However, there is something special here. I can't describe it. Maybe because the author was writing about his father. I don't know, but by the end of this book, I felt like I knew the men. I cannot even begin to say that I understood the horror of the war from their perspective, discovering mutilated bodies of best friends, living with the reality that every "pop" that you hear in the never-ending background noise of gunfire could have ended your life, or maybe ended the life of a comrade. But I think that I understand now better than I ever have before. When I met a WWII vet during one of my clinical rotations in a nursing home I had a new-found respect for him after reading this book. The effect has been profound. I know that that is the effect of many war books on individuals who read them for the first time; that is why there is such a market. I, however, have read many histories and war accounts of all shapes and sizes. This one stands out. I will never forget those men. I can never look at that picture of Iwo Jima again--which, even today, seems to be everywhere--without thinking back to the lives, loves, and deaths of those men.

Thank you, James, for your hard work in writing this book.

-Jacob Hantla


Tags : Amazon.com: Flags of Our Fathers (9780553380293): James Bradley, Ron Powers: Books,James Bradley, Ron Powers,Flags of Our Fathers,Bantam,0553384155,9780739326596,Military,Military - World War Ii,Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 1945,Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 1945.,Marines - United States,Marines;United States;Biography.,Photographs - History - 20th century,Photographs;History;20th century.,Rosenthal, Joe,United States,20th century,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Military,Biography,Biography & AutobiographyMilitary,Biography: historical, political & military,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY Military World War II,HISTORY Modern 20th Century,History,History - Military War,HistoryMilitary - United States,Iwo Jima; WWII; WW2; World War II; history; American history; US history; military history; military; 1940s; 20th century; america; american; biography; flag; heroism; historical; james bradley; japan; marine corps; marines; memoir; navy; pacific; pacific theater; photography; usa; usmc; war; history books; nonfiction books; biographies; historical non fiction; biography autobiography; culture; cultural history; true story; society; inspirational; social history; true stories; non fiction; bios; social studies; history book; biographical,Iwo Jima;WWII;WW2;World War II;history;American history;US history;military history;military;1940s;20th century;america;american;biography;flag;heroism;historical;james bradley;japan;marine corps;marines;memoir;navy;pacific;pacific theater;photography;usa;usmc;war;history books;nonfiction books;biographies;historical non fiction;biography autobiography;culture;cultural history;true story;society;inspirational;social history;true stories;non fiction;bios;social studies;history book;biographical,MARINES,Marines - United States,Marines;United States;Biography.,Military,Military - United States,Military - World War Ii,Non-Fiction,Photographs,Photographs - History - 20th century,Photographs;History;20th century.,Pictorial treatment,Rosenthal, Joe,United States,WORLD WAR II,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Military,Biography & AutobiographyMilitary,HISTORY Military World War II,HISTORY Modern 20th Century,HistoryMilitary - United States,Military - United States,History - Military War,20th century,Biography,Photographs,Marines,World War II,History,Biography: historical, political & military

Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley Ron Powers Books Reviews

Excellent account of the history of one of the most famous photographs of all time as well as a detailed look into the lives of those involved including the historic battle for Iwo Jima. If you enjoy World War Two history, you won't be disappointed.
While I am very glad that I took the time to read this book, I must admit that it took me quite awhile to get through it as I found it to be incredibly difficult emotionally to deal with. I have read much about WW2 history these past 15 or so years and so am not a stranger to the horrible conditions under which so many many people worked and lived but realizing that the majority of these young men were really just boys was heartbreaking for me as I have 3 sons and know that in another place and time that could have been any or all of them in those situations. My father was a WW2 vet who died at age 91 about 1 1/2 years ago. I learned a lot from him as he loved to talk about his days in the eighth Air Force. I don’t think you will regret investing the time into this book but just be prepared for a reality check. Like Doc in the story my father returned home went to college on the GI bill married my mother and became a funeral director. He worked at this profession until mere months before his death and truly enjoyed his work and those he provided care and comfort too. Perhaps that is another reason why this book was rather tough for me to get through. All in all worth the struggle.
James Bradley is the son of one of the six men identified in perhaps the most memorable photos to emerge from World War II. John Bradley, a Navy corpsman who was among the thousands of Marines who made landfall at Iwo Jima in February 1945, participated in the flag raising atop Mount Suribachi on Feb. 19, 1945. His son James profiled each of the six men in that flagraising. He not only tells the reader about how each of the men came to be among the Marines on Iwo Jima, but describes how they performed during the battle that lasted 31 days and claimed thousands of casualties on both sides.

The author also talks about the lives of the three surviving fundraisers after the battle, including his father. He focuses on how each man dealt with the demands of their celebrity as well as the horrors that lived within each of their memories of Iwo Jima.

As a personal note, I chose to read "Flags of Our Fathers" because my father, a 22-year Navy man, fought in the South Pacific during WW II. This book brought home a much greater understanding of the perils and tragedy of war.
They were six boys from different areas of the country - Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas and Pennsylvania. They were five Marines and a Navy corpsman. They were immortalized in a single second, when a photographer snapped a picture that would become The Photograph, the most reproduced photo of the last century.
This is the story of those young men, all of them working class, all of them struggling to fight a war. Three of them survived to come home, where they were dined and honored and where they struggled to forget the awful images of Iwo Jima. John Bradley, for instance, remembered the corpse of Iggy, his best friend who had been horribly tortured by the Japanese.
This is the story not only of the battle of Iwo Jima and The Photograph that made these men famous; it is also about their lives before the war; it is the story of the three survivors and what happened to them after they left the battlefields.
The survivors themselves said the real heroes were those who didn’t come back from Iwo Jima. But one must not forget that there were like so many other men who were not as well known or immortalized on film and in bronze.
These six men in The Photograph became the image of the war; their valor was what we wanted to see, not the unbearable bloodshed.
Ira Hayes is the best known survivor, but he is known as much for his dark side as for his heroism. Hayes made the headlines for his drunkenness and his arrest record before and after the war. This was a sad end for a brave Marine.
I am glad Bradley wrote so well about his father and his father’s comrades.
A friend recommended this book to me after reading the entire thing in less than a week. I was in the midst of reading a few other books, so I said ok when he offered to lend it to me thinking that I would read it off and on and give it back to him in a couple of months. WRONG!

Within 3 hours of starting it, I had logged on to and had ordered my own copy. Within 3 days I had finished and was re-reading the parts I couldn't remember. The writing of James Bradley is good, nothing spectacular in and of itself. The story of Iwo Jima is one of the most riveting, gut-wrenching, and reverence-evoking in the history of the United States military, but I've read a few other (much more detailed) histories of Iwo Jima that did not have as profound an impact as this one did. The idea to trace the lives of a few soldiers through their battle is not a new one either.

However, there is something special here. I can't describe it. Maybe because the author was writing about his father. I don't know, but by the end of this book, I felt like I knew the men. I cannot even begin to say that I understood the horror of the war from their perspective, discovering mutilated bodies of best friends, living with the reality that every "pop" that you hear in the never-ending background noise of gunfire could have ended your life, or maybe ended the life of a comrade. But I think that I understand now better than I ever have before. When I met a WWII vet during one of my clinical rotations in a nursing home I had a new-found respect for him after reading this book. The effect has been profound. I know that that is the effect of many war books on individuals who read them for the first time; that is why there is such a market. I, however, have read many histories and war accounts of all shapes and sizes. This one stands out. I will never forget those men. I can never look at that picture of Iwo Jima again--which, even today, seems to be everywhere--without thinking back to the lives, loves, and deaths of those men.

Thank you, James, for your hard work in writing this book.

-Jacob Hantla