Flags of Our Fathers
Flags of Our Fathers is a The New York Times bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about the six United States marines who would eventually be made famous by Joe Rosenthal's lauded photograph of the U.S. flag raising over Iwo Jima, one of the costliest and most horrifying battles of World War II's Pacific Theater. The flag raisers were Harold Henry Schultz, Harold "Pie" Keller, Ira Hamilton Hayes, Michael Strank, Harlon Henry Block, and Franklin Runyon Sousley; the latter three men were killed later in the battle. Strank was a sergeant who refused a promotion to staff sergeant before the battle in order to "Bring his boys back to their mothers." Block was a corporal who reported to Strank, as was Keller, and the rest were privates first class. John Bradley was a Navy corpsman who administered first aid to Easy Company, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, the company to which all the flag raisers were assigned, and was part of the first flag raising that took place before the famous photograph of the second flag raising. It was believed until 2016 that Pfc. Rene Gagnon was one of the flag raisers, instead of Keller, and Gagnon went on the bond drive that is featured in the book, even though he was not part of either flag raising.
The book, published in May 2000 by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, spent 46 weeks on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, spending six weeks at number one. Shortly after the book's publication, Steven Spielberg acquired the option on the film rights for DreamWorks Pictures.
The book follows the lives of the six flag raisers through their early lives of innocence, military training, fierce combat, and afterward, when they were sent on tours to raise money for war bonds.
The film adaptation Flags of Our Fathers, which opened in the U.S. on October 20, 2006, was directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz, with a screenplay written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis.
