The Boys of Iwo Jima
(From the book: Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and
Laughter")
~ Michael T. Powers ~
"Each year my video production company is hired
to go to Washington, D.C. with the eighth grade class from Clinton, Wisconsin
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 men raising the American flag
at the top of Mount Surabachi 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, "What's your name and where are you guys from?
I
told him that my name was Michael Powers and that we were from Clinton,
Wisconsin.
"Hey,
I'm a Cheesehead, too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, and I will tell
you a story."
James
Bradley just happened to be in Washington, D.C. to speak at the memorial the
following day. He was there that night to say good-night to his dad, who had
previously passed away, but whose image is part of the statue. 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
from 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 twenty-one, died with his
intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out; I say that because
there are generals 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 seventeen,
eighteen, and nineteen years old.
(He
pointed to the statue)
You
see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. 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 eighteen
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 twenty-four. When Mike would motivate
his boys in training camp, he didn't say, "Let's go kill the enemy"
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 twenty-seven 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
twenty-seven 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 thirty-two, 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 Epson salts. Those cows crapped all night."
Yes,
he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of
nineteen. 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 right there 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 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, 7000 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 in his own eyes, but a
hero nonetheless."
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day and let's all remember the heroes that gave their lives for us to live in the great country that we do.
Michael T. Powers
HeartTouchers@aol.com
Copyright © 2000 by Michael T. Powers
Write Michael and let him know
your thoughts on this story!
Michael T. Powers, the founder of
HeartTouchers.com and Heart4Teens.com, is the youth minister at Faith Community
Church in Janesville, Wisconsin. He is happily married to his high school
sweetheart Kristi and proud father of three young rambunctious boys.
He
is also an author with stories in 29 inspirational books including many in the
Chicken Soup for the Soul series and his own entitled: Heart Touchers
"Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter." To preview his book or to
join the thousands of world wide readers on his inspirational e-mail list,
visit:
http://www.hearttouchers.com
Most importantly, Michael believes that life is not about religion, but about
a relationship -- a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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