The True Hero In Flags Of Our Fathers By James Bradley

Flags of Our Fathers depicts the lives of six servicemen beginning in their hometowns and ending with their deaths, three of which died in battle. The story follows the second flag raisers of Mount Suribachi, some of which were not even in the photo, but were made famous by a photograph taken of their backs as they stood the American Flag upright. In this book, James Bradley, the son of a flag raiser, defines a hero, identifies the exploitation of Ira Hayes, and documents difficulties they faced upon returning. In this story, Bradley mentions how the media took a photo of service men replacing a flag as a glorious display of American dominance in the war. Following the picture being taken, the men deemed “heroes” were sent to tour the United States campaigning for the sale of bonds as the U.S. only had a month’s worth of funding prior to the battle of Iwo Jima. The three living men denied the title of hero, as they believed the real heroes never came home. …show more content…
He then enlisted leading to his part in the picture, hoisting up the flag. Throughout the book, Ira would drink and have flashbacks of the war. He was exploited when the government would provide him alcohol in order to control his ability to participate in bond selling rallies. After appearing drunk at a major press event, Hayes was fired and looked for a new life as a leader of the Pima’s. Ira would eventually die an alcoholic, for his need to drink away the horrors of war and the readily supply of liquor provided by the power savvy U.S. economics department that got him