Of the 6 men shown raising the flag in Joe Rosenthal's famous photogtraph, PFC Ira Hayes is the Marine at the very rear. At the end of the Iwo Jima campaign, he, Navy corpsman John "Doc" Bradley and PFC Rene Gagnon were the only survivors of the men who raised Old Glory on Suribachi. We know the story; that picture was so compelling that the government whisked away the survivors and sent them cross-country on a bond-tour, being hailed as heroes from one coast to the other. The goal of the drive was to raise $14 billion or else the USA would run out of money. This particular drive raised over $20 billion and it was largely due to the dog-and-pony show these three men were constantly subjected to. These men were exploited as heroes, a label that none were comfortable with. How could they be heroes with all the dead and maimed that resulted from the carnage of Iwo Jima ?



With much the same effectiveness as he showed with the companion film "Letters From Iwo Jima," Director Clint Eastwood shows the very human struggles or otherwise ordinary people who answered their nation's call without any quest for glory or reward. They wanted to do their duty and for the three flag-raisers, the bond tour became that duty. In the end, that is what makes these individuals heroes. . .