James Bradley (born May 4, 1954) is an American author from Antigo, Wisconsin, [1] specializing in historical nonfiction chronicling the Pacific theatre of World War II. His father, John Bradley, was involved in the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. [2]
James Bradley was raised in Wisconsin and earned a degree in East Asian History from the University of Wisconsin. [3]
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 Booknotes interview with Bradley on Flags of Our Fathers, July 9, 2000, C-SPAN |
In 2000, Bradley published Flags of Our Fathers , written with the author Ron Powers, which tells the story of five US Marines and a US Navy corpsman attached to the Marines Corps (his father, John Bradley, who did not raise the second, larger flag), raising the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Seventh War Loan Drive after the battle. In that book, which spent 46 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was made into a film directed by Clint Eastwood, Bradley took great care to locate and speak with family and friends who actually knew the men depicted. In doing so, he received praise for his realistic portrayals and bringing the men involved to life.
The book and the film are in-depth looks at those involved and their war-time service. Of the six men who raised the second and larger replacement flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, PhM2c. John Bradley, although he had been involved in only the first raising of a smaller flag hours before, was not involved in the second flag raising, [2] Pfc. Ira Hayes, and Pfc. Rene Gagnon were the only survivors of the battle. Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Harlon Block, and Pfc. Franklin Sousley were killed in action later on in the battle. The book and film tell the story in a before, during, and after format, and both were well received upon their release. An impromptu speech Bradley, who did not raise the flag, gave at the Marine Corps War Memorial (sometimes called the Iwo Jima memorial) was transcribed by Michael T. Powers in October 2000, and widely circulated on the Internet. [4] On June 23, 2016, the United States Marine Corps identified Cpl. Harold Schultz as the sixth flag raiser for the second flag. [2]
In 2003, Bradley published Flyboys: A True Story of Courage . That book tells the story of an air raid that took place during the Battle of Iwo Jima, some 150 miles away, when United States warplanes bombed the small communications outpost on Chichi Jima. While Iwo Jima had Japanese forces numbering 22,000, Chichi Jima's forces numbered 25,000. Nine American crewmen survived after being shot down in the raid. One was picked up by the American submarine USS Finback. That was Lieutenant George H. W. Bush, who later went on to become the 41st President of the United States. The other eight were captured as POWs by the Japanese and were executed and eaten, a fact that remained hidden until much later. Like Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys: A True Story of Courage also topped the New York Times Bestseller list when it came out.
In 2009, he published his third New York Times best selling book, The Imperial Cruise . It concerns the 1905 diplomatic mission led by then-Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Alice Roosevelt, as well as the larger implications of President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy, particularly with regard to Japan. The New York Times published a complimentary review, writing that "The Imperial Cruise is startling enough to reshape conventional wisdom about Roosevelt's presidency." [5] The book exposes the blatantly racist and exploitative policy of the United States in its attempt to extend its influence into the Pacific rim, acquiring Hawaii by conquest and the Philippines by purchase from the Spanish after ostensibly having entered the conflict to aid the Filipino freedom fighters. The American occupation was marked by torture and repression of the very people they had come to help.
The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia is James' fourth book, detailing America's involvement in China since the early 19th Century during the heights of opium trade, through the conclusion of the Second World War and Mao Zedong's rise to power. The premise of the book is how the United States failed to understand Asian cultures that led to poor decision-making by policy makers in the US State Department as well as by both President Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. Ultimately, Bradley makes the suggestion that the War in the Pacific, the Korean War and the Vietnam War would have been avoided had President Franklin Roosevelt not been unduly influenced by the China Lobby that supported Chiang Kai-shek.
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.
Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne that follows a group of United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The film, which also features John Agar, Adele Mara and Forrest Tucker, was written by Harry Brown and James Edward Grant, and directed by Allan Dwan. The picture was a Republic Pictures production.
Ira Hamilton Hayes was an Akimel O'odham Indigenous American and a United States Marine during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, located in Pinal and Maricopa counties in Arizona. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on August 26, 1942, and, after recruit training, volunteered to become a Paramarine. He fought in the Bougainville and Iwo Jima campaigns in the Pacific War.
Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an iconic photograph of six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the final stages of the Pacific War. Taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, the photograph was published in Sunday newspapers two days later and reprinted in thousands of publications. It won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Photography and has come to be regarded in the United States as one of the most recognizable images of World War II.
Harlon Henry Block was a United States Marine Corps corporal who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
René Arthur Gagnon was a United States Marine Corps corporal who participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.
Michael Strank was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was one of the Marines who raised the second U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by photographer Joe Rosenthal. Of the six Marines depicted in the photo, Strank was the only one to be correctly identified from the beginning; the other five were either assigned the wrong locations, or, were given the names of Marines who were not in the photo.
John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy Hospital corpsman who was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving with the Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. During the battle, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945.
Franklin Runyon Sousley was a United States Marine who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was one of the six marines who raised the second of two U.S. flags on top of Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
Nobuaki "Warren" Iwatake was an American citizen who was drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army to serve as a radio operator and communications intercepter.
Henry Oliver Hansen was a United States Marine Corps sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was killed six days later.
Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski was a United States Marine Corps private who was captured and killed by the Japanese in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He was a member of the Marine rifle company platoon who climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the American flag on February 23, 1945.
Ernest Ivy "Boots" Thomas Jr. was a United States Marine Corps platoon sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while fighting for and at the base of Mount Suribachi. Two days later he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He was killed eight days after that.
Harold George Schrier was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who served in World War II and the Korean War. In World War II, he was awarded the Navy Cross for leading the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi, where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. In the Korean War, he was wounded in North Korea during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir while commanding a rifle company.
Charles W. Lindberg was a United States Marine Corps corporal who fought in three island campaigns during World War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was a member of the patrol which captured the top of Mount Suribachi where he helped raise the first U.S. flag on the island on February 23, 1945. Six days later, he was wounded in action.
Raymond E. Jacobs was an American and United States Marine Corps sergeant who served in combat during World War II. Jacobs was a member of the combat patrol that climbed up to the top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima and raised the first U.S. Flag on February 23, 1945. Afterwards, he was a news reporter and served during the Korean War as an instructor at Camp Pendleton, California.
Harold Henry Schultz was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. He was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He is also one of the six Marines who raised the larger replacement flag on the mountaintop the same day as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
Harold Paul Keller was a United States Marine corporal who was wounded in action during the Bougainville campaign in World War II. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was a member of the patrol that captured the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. He is one of the six Marines who raised the larger replacement flag on the mountaintop the same day as shown in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
Chandler Wilce Johnson was a highly decorated United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. He served as the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima, leading his battalion in capturing Mount Suribachi which later led to the flag being raised over Iwo Jima. He was killed in action one week after the flag raising and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Dave Elliott Severance was a United States Marine Corps colonel. During World War II, he served as the commanding officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines and led his company in the battle of Iwo Jima. During the battle, Severance ordered his 3rd Platoon to scale Mount Suribachi and raise the flag at the summit.
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