SIX BOYS AND THIRTEEN HANDS...  > > > Each year I am hired to  go to  Washington ,  DC , with the> eighth grade class  from  Clinton , WI  where I grew up, to videotapetheir> 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 United States 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 baseof> 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 cheesehead,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 had passed away. He was just about to leave when> he saw the buses  pull up. I video taped him as he spoke to us, andreceived> his  permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thingto> 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 dadis  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 on Iwo.  > > 'The first guy putting  the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlonwas> 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, d> ied with his intestines in his hands.  I don't say that to gross you out, I> say that because there are people 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 - and it was so hard  that the ones who did> make it home never even would talk to their families about  it. > > >  > > > 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 webbingof> that helmet, you would find a  photograph.....A photograph of his> girlfriend.   Rene put that  in there for protection because he wasscared.> He was 18 years old. It  was just boys who 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 calledhim> 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 ourcountry.'> He knew he was talking to  little boys. Instead he would say, 'You dowhat 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 Indianfrom> Arizona . Ira Hayes was one who walked off  Iwo Jima . He went into the> White  House with  my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're ahero.'  He> told reporters, 'How  can I feel like a hero when 250 of my  buddieshit 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  thebeach,> but only 27 of your classmates walk  off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had> images of horror in his mind.  Ira  Hayes carried the pain home with  him> and eventually died dead drunk, face down  at the age of 32 (ten yearsafter> 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 cowscouldn't> get down.   Then  we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped allnight.'> 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 andinto> the morning. Those 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'sproducers> 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  Canadafishing. No, there> is no  phone there. No, we don't know when he is coming back.'  My dad> never fished or even went to Canada . Usually, he was sitting there rightat> 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, like Ira  Hayes, 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. At  Iwo Jima  he probably held over 200 boys as theydied.> And when boys died in  Iwo Jima , they writhed and screamed, withoutany> medication or help with the pain."  > > >  > > > 'When I was a little  boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dadwas 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 guyswho> 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 aflag> 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  > > >  > > > One other thing I learned while  on tour with my 8th grade students in DC> that was not mentioned by Bradley, is that if  you look at the statue very> closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the  flag, thereare 13.> When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simplysaid> the 13th hand was the hand of God.  > > We need to remember  that God created this vast and  glorious world for us> to live in, freely, but  also at great sacrifice.  Let us never forgetfrom> the Revolutionary War to  the current War on Terrorism and all the wars> in-between that sacrifice was made  for our freedom.  Remember to pray for> this great country of ours and also pray for  those still in  murderous> unrest around the world.  > STOP and thank God for being alive and  being free at someone else's> sacrifice.  > > >  > > > God Bless You and God  Bless  The United States.> > > >                                     Semper Fi