[Vision2020] A Tale of Six Boys

[lfalen]

Thanks for the post. Did you see the move about Ira Hayes? Tony Curtis stars as Ira Hayes.
-----Original message-----
From: "Dick Schmidt" dickschmidt at moscow.com
Date: Wed,  1 Jun 2005 20:29:24 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] A Tale of Six Boys

> All,
> 
> This story just came in and I'd like to share it.
> 
> Dick Schmidt
> 
> Tale of Six Boys"
> 
> Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade > class 
> from Clinton, WI. 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 soldiers 
> raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill 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, "Where are you guys from?"
> 
> I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! > Come 
> gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story."
> 
> (James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the 
> memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to > 
> his dad, who has since passed away. 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 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 21, 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 17, 18, and 19 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 18 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 24. When Mike would 
> motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some 
> Japanese' 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 27 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 27 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 32 .. 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 Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night. > Yes, 
> he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age > of 
> 19. 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 there right > 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 on 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, 7,000 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 for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.
> 
> REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great > day.
> 
>