Discussion Topic
somthing to share
Posted on 07/14/08, 09:14 am
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 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 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 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 cheese
head,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, 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 , 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 dad
is 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. 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, 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 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. 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 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 ourcountry.'
> 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 was one who 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 carried the pain home with him
> and eventually 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, '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 cows
couldn't
> get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all
night.'
> 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. 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'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. 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, 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 they
died.
> 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 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. 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 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
> 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, there
are 13.
> When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply
said
> 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 forget
from
> 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
>
>
> Each year I am hired to go to Washington , DC , with the
> eighth 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 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 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 cheese
head,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, 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 , 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 dad
is 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. 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, 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 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. 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 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 ourcountry.'
> 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 was one who 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 carried the pain home with him
> and eventually 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, '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 cows
couldn't
> get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all
night.'
> 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. 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'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. 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, 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 they
died.
> 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 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. 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 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
> 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, there
are 13.
> When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply
said
> 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 forget
from
> 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
-
Reply #1 07/14/08 10:21am
God bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom, and for those who are about too. Never forget! Always Faithful!! -
Reply #2 07/14/08 3:41pm
Thanks -
Reply #3 07/24/08 5:21pm
This 'Letter of Apology' was written by Lieutenant General Chuck Pitman, US Marine Corps, Retired:
For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On the one hand, right thinking Americans will abhor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre.
I humbly offer my opinion here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth; it was in the defense of Muslims ( Bosnia , Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait , etc.)
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs.
I am sorry that most Arabs and Muslims have to live in squalor under savage dictatorships.
I am sorry that their leaders squander their wealth.
I am sorry that their governments breed hate for the US in their religious schools, mosques, and government-controlled media.
I am sorry that Yasser Arafat was kicked out of every Arab country and high-jacked the Palestinian 'cause.'
I am sorry that no other Arab country will take in or offer more than a token amount of financial help to those same Palestinians.
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA for all their problems.
I am sorry that our own left wing, our media, and our own brainwashed masses do not understand any of this (from the misleading vocal elements of our society like radical professors, CNN and the NY TIMES).
I am sorry the United Nations scammed the poor people of Iraq out of the 'food for oil' money so they could get rich while the common folk suffered.
I am sorry that some Arab governments pay the families of homicide bombers upon their death
I am sorry that those same bombers are brainwashed thinking they will receive 72 virgins in 'paradise.'
I am sorry that the homicide bombers think pregnant women, babies, children, the elderly and other noncombatant civilians are legitimate targets.
I am sorry that our troops die to free more Arabs from the gang rape rooms and the filling of mass graves of dissidents of their own making.
I am sorry that Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other group.
I am sorry that foreign trained terrorists are trying to seize control of Iraq and return it to a terrorist state.
I am sorry we don't drop a few dozen Daisy cutters on Fallujah.
I am sorry every time terrorists hide they find a convenient 'Holy Site.'
I am sorry they didn't apologize for driving a jet into the World Trade Center that collapsed and severely damaged Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - one of our Holy Sites.
I am sorry they didn't apologize for flight 93 and 175, the USS Cole, the embassy bombings, the murders and beheadings of Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl, etc....etc!
I am sorry Michael Moore is American; he could feed a medium sized village in Africa
America will get past this latest absurdity. We will punish those responsible because that is what we do.
I am sorry the Barack Hussein Obama may be elected president of the United States when he doesn't have a clue on how to be a strong Commander-in-chief in a world filled with Muslim extremists who will do whatever it needs to do to destroy the lives of civilized people while killing innocent men, women and children in order to bring a change that is beneficial to all Islamic terrorists worldwide.
I am sorry that voters on the left don't understand the frightening changes that are taking place in the Muslim world and what these changes will do to this world in which we live.
I am sorry that the Democratic Party has been highjacked by Socialists and Communists right under the very noses of those who take pride in calling themselves democrats.
We hang out our dirty laundry for the entire world to see. We move on. That's one of the reasons we are hated so much. We don't hide this stuff like all those Arab countries that are now demanding an apology.
Deep down inside, when most Americans saw this reported in the news, we were like - so what? We lost hundreds and made fun of a few prisoners. Sure, it was wrong, sure, it dramatically hurts our cause, but until captured we were trying to kill these same prisoners. Now we're supposed to wring our hands because a few were humiliated? Our compassion is tempered with the vivid memories of our own people killed, mutilated and burnt amongst a joyous crowd of celebrating Fallujahans.
If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long wait! You have a better chance of finding those seventy-two virgins..
Chuck Pitman
Lieutenant General, USMC
Pass this on to your friends if you agree.
If not, I am sorry I offended you by passing on the facts. -
Reply #4 07/24/08 5:54pm
Thank you so much for this thread. -
Reply #5 07/24/08 6:49pm
SST, that was awsome!! I would like to encourage you to put that on the War/Terrorism boards to shut up all those anti-US shouters!!! Semper Fi, bud. -
Reply #6 07/25/08 12:17pm
Overwhelmingly awesome!
Welcome
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