It is the most indelible image of the Pacific War – a moment in time caught on film of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi mere days into the vicious battle for the Japanese garrison of Iwo Jima, a desolate island of black sand beaches and sulfurous caves.   

For the men caught in the photo, raising the flag is one small formality in the midst of a grueling battle; but to those back home, the image of these men wordlessly working together to prevail against devastating odds instantly reshapes the notion of a hero.  It captivates an American public hungry for hope and weary of a seeming war without end.  It gives mothers a reason to believe their sons will come back alive, and meaning to those grieving for sons who won’t come back at all.    

To capitalize on the wave of sentiment the photo inspires, the surviving “Flag Raisers” are pulled out of combat and sent back to the States to continue to serve their country – not on the battlefield but among crowds of adoring throngs brought together to be close to “true heroes” and write desperately-needed checks to fund the war effort. 

Only three make it back alive – John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), a Navy Corpsman; Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), a publicity-shy Native American; and Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), a wartime messenger who avoided firing his weapon. 

The three Flag Raisers play the hero role to perfection – tirelessly touring the country, shaking the right hands, speaking the right words into microphones – as the very power of their image rescues the flagging war effort.  But inwardly, they find that along with their friends and brothers felled in combat, a part of their souls will never leave the black soils of Iwo Jima. 

Directed by two-time Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood, “Flags of Our Fathers” is a powerful exploration of war as observed from afar and experienced by soldiers on the ground.  An intimate story of friendship and courage, survival and sacrifice against the vast, chaotic backdrop of the battle of Iwo Jima, the film captures a moment in time as glimpsed through Joe Rosenthal’s camera and the impact that moment had not only on the country galvanized by it, but on the men captured within the camera’s lens.