FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS 113
(Benjamin Walker) and Pfc. Franklin Sousley ( Joseph Cross) are photographed by
Joe Rosenthal as they send up the second flag. On 1 March Mike is hit by “friendly
fire” and dies from his wounds. Later that day Hank and Harlon are also killed in
action. Two nights later (4 March), while Doc tends to an injured soldier, Ralph
“Iggy” Ignatowski ( Jamie Bell) is kidnapped by the Japa nese and pulled through an
underground tunnel. Doc finds his mutilated body a few days later. On 21 March a
mortally wounded Franklin Sousley dies in Ira Hayes’ arms. Three squad members
remain: Doc Bradley, Ira Hayes, and Rene Gagnon. A few days after Sousley’s death,
Doc is injured and returns home. On 26 March the Battle of Iwo Jima ends in Amer-
ican victory (but at a grave price: 6,700 dead and 19,000 wounded). Joe Rosenthal’s
photo graph appears in newspapers throughout the country. Rene Gagnon is
asked to name the six men in the photo: he identifies himself, Mike Strank, Doc
Bradley, and Franklin Sousley, but misidentifies Harlon Block as Hank Han-
sen. Gagnon identifies Ira Hayes as the final man in the photo graph, but Hayes
says that it isn’t him, but Harlon Block in the photo. Gagnon asks Hayes to re-
evaluate, mentioning that, as flag raisers, this denial will send them both home,
but Gagnon refuses to give in and threatens Gagnon’s life if he dares to name Hayes
in the photo graph. Gagnon does eventually name Ira Hayes as the sixth man in
the photo graph. Bradley, Hayes, and Gagnon are then sent stateside to raise money
for the war effort. Hayes calls the bond drive a joke, but Bud Gerber ( John Slat-
tery) of the Trea sury Department disciplines them and admits that the U.S. gov-
ernment is nearly bankrupt; if the bond drive fails, the United States will be forced
to abandon the Pacific and all their sacrifices will be in vain. The three agree not to
tell anyone that Hank Hansen was not in the photo graph. As the trio is sent around
the country on their fundraising tour, Ira Hayes suffers from survivor’s guilt and the
lingering effects of battle fatigue and also faces blatant bigotry as a Pima Indian.
In the throes of alcoholism, Hayes vomits one night in front of Gen. Vandegrift
(Chris Bauer), commandant of the Marine Corps; Vandegrift orders him sent back
to his unit. After the war, the three survivors return home. Ira Hayes hitchhikes to
Texas to see Harlon Block’s family and tell Harlon’s father that his son was indeed
in the famous photo graph. At the dedication of the USMC War Memorial in 1954
the three surviving flag raisers see each other one last time. The next year Ira
Hayes dies of exposure after a night of heavy drinking. That same year Doc Brad-
ley visits Iggy Ignatowski’s mother to tell her how her son died. Rene Gagnon
attempts to begin a professional life in the business sector, but finds that the offers
he received during the bond drive have been rescinded and spends the rest of his
life as a janitor. Doc, however, finds success as the owner and director of a funeral
home. In 1994, close to death, Doc relays his vivid tale to his son, James.
Reception
Released 20 October 2006, Flags of Our Fathers ran for eight weeks (widest release:
1,876 theaters) and earned $33.6 million in gross domestic box office receipts. Exhi-
bition in foreign markets (November 2006– March 2007) earned another $32.3 mil-
lion, for a grand total of $65.9 million: disappointing results but prob ably inevitable
because (a) the film lacked star power and (b) it presented a dishearteningly