Flags Of Our Fathers, Chapter One.

The book that I am reading is Flags of our Fathers, by James Bradley. It is 353 pages, and 20 chapters.

CHAPTER ONE: Sacred Ground

Chapter One stars out with James Bradley on the beach of Iwo Jima. It talks about how James set aside his normal life for a few days in Rye, New York and made a commitment to the other side of the world. His dad is one of the main characters of this book, Jack Bradley. He then starts talking about how history turned for the six main characters in the story. The amazing picture that you had to have seen at one time.

 

This image, sort of blurred changed the soldiers fate. It made them hero's, even if they didn't make it home. This picture became the symbol for this battle. Three of the men were killed in battle, and the other three made it home. Even though they wish at times that they didn't. Jack Bradley was the only one of the six that went home and lead a normal life after the war was over. He married his thrid-grade sweetheart, have 8 kids, opened a funeral home, and joined a bunch of groups. He never talked about the battle, the flag raising, or anything that has to do with Iwo Jima. Whenever someone would ask him about it, he would always change the conversation, if someone called the house, he would have one of the kids answer, and say that he was gone fishing in Canada. When he never even fished. The Bradley children grew up with a good life, and they were happy. They never asked about Iwo Jima, even though they new about the photograph. James was the middle child, he didn't really know anything. Everyone told him that his dad was a hero, and he loved that about his dad, he believed it. He would always try to get his dad to tell him about it, but he never would. It was a boring topic for Jack. He would always tell everyone that they hero's of Iwo Jima are the ones that didn't come back. He almost succeeded in taking his secrets to his grave, but his wife and one of his children were looking for his will in his small apartment that he used as his small office. They found three old boxes that were full of things from Iwo Jima, all of the things that he got for being a flag raiser. They found many letters, even one that was supposed to be sent home. James was standing where the flag was raised, and could see the whole island. He goes on to talk about the Japense and more about the island. Read to get more details! (:

The first chapter sets up the whole story, but it does give away somethings that happen towards the end of the book. It pretty much foreshadows certain things.

1. The death of 3/6 main soldiers. (The ones that are in the picture.)
2. The return of soldiers.
3. Some of the things in the battle.