I do believe this might have some genealogical value in that the men portrayed raising the flag on the Iwo Jimo monument in Washington DC are identified along with a story from one of the sons of the heroes. Mary Ann >Subject: Marines > > >Sent by a Marine veteran of Korea and Vietnam...... > > > > > >Each year I am hired to go to Washington DC with the eight 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 Cheeshead > >too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, 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 DC. > >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 > >Father's" 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, "We pushed 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. You > >know what happened. 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, because 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. " > > > >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 for the reasons most people > >would believe, but a hero none-the-less. CONVERSE CONNECTIONS http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~converse/index.html CONVERSE MAIL LIST Administrator MY FAMILY GENEALOGY http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~makaylor/index.html

OH WOW. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Ann Kaylor" <makaylor@motion.net> To: <ILMAGA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 12:14 PM Subject: [ILMAGA] World War II Monument > I do believe this might have some genealogical value in that the men > portrayed raising the flag on the Iwo Jimo monument in Washington DC are > identified along with a story from one of the sons of the heroes. > > Mary Ann > > >Subject: Marines > > > > >Sent by a Marine veteran of Korea and Vietnam...... > > > > > > > > >Each year I am hired to go to Washington DC with the eight 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 Cheeshead > > >too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, 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 DC. > > >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 > > >Father's" 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, "We pushed 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. You > > >know what happened. 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, because 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. " > > > > > >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 for the reasons most people > > >would believe, but a hero none-the-less. > > CONVERSE CONNECTIONS > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~converse/index.html > CONVERSE MAIL LIST Administrator > > MY FAMILY GENEALOGY > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~makaylor/index.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== ILMAGA Mailing List ==== > ILMAGA Web site covers Central IL Counties of Scott; Morgan; Cass; > Menard; Sangamon; Macoupin and Greene. Check out our page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmaga/index.html > >