Flags of Our Fathers Page #8

with his unit

which was at least partially true, but

that isn't what got the headlines.

We're engaged.

Excuse me a minute, darling.

- Hey, Doc?

- Yeah?

- Got a minute?

- Yeah.

I'll see you at the car.

- You hear I'm getting married?

- I did, Rene. That's great.

Yeah, it's something she wants.

She waited for me all this time.

She's not used to all this,

but she's a good girl.

I'm sure you'll be very happy.

So, I was wondering

if you'd be my best man.

Me?

Don't you have somebody at home,

a buddy, you'd rather ask?

Well, I didn't really make many.

The ones who didn't go, it's...

Well, it's hard to even talk to them.

You know?

Yeah, I know.

I'd be proud to.

Thank you.

I better go drag her away from them

before she announces

I'm gonna be president

of General Motors or something.

All right.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you so much. Thank you.

Rene, you're a lucky man.

- Big smile, Mrs. Gagnon!

- Say cheese!

I couldn't complain

because the press loved them,

so they wrote more articles

and people bought more bonds.

The tour went on

with just Rene and your dad.

And the true heroes are the men

who didn't make it home from lwo Jima,

the men who died at lwo Jima

and in other campaigns.

We ask that you honor

the memory of those men

by buying the war bonds

and helping us to win this war.

Thank you.

City after city,

I thought the damn thing'd never end.

And this rumor kept going around

that the photograph had been staged.

I remember your dad telling them

that he wished he'd known

he was having his picture taken

because he would've ducked

the hell out of it.

Whose idea was it?

Who wanted to stage the thing?

Come on, it was you?

Was there truth to the rumor

that that picture was staged, Doc?

- Come on! Doc?

- Can you answer that?

I remember when your dad got shot.

All hell was busting loose.

People back home saw that picture

and thought it was over

when we took Suribachi.

We wished.

Anyways, we're pinned down.

Mortars, shells, machine guns.

Fire coming from

every which direction, right?

And we hear somebody call,

"Corpsman down."

Corpsman down!

Blood was spurting out of his throat,

and Doc was doing everything he could.

And the Corpsman looks up at him

and he knows what this means,

to be shot in the neck.

He knows he's dying, you can see that.

But still

in his eyes, he's pleading with Doc

to save his life.

And Doc can't.

- You okay, Doc?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

- Yeah, you look fine.

- I'm okay.

Keep down, all right?

I'm gonna go get a stretcher.

Okay.

Corpsman. Corpsman!

For God sake, Corpsman!

Corpsman?

Corpsman.

Incoming!

Let me see.

It's not that bad.

You're gonna be okay. All right?

Just stay with me. Look at me.

Took us a half-hour to find your dad.

He could've bled to death.

Coming down.

Thanks.

Vets'll tell you about being hit

but not wanting to leave their buddies.

Usually, they're lying.

You'll take any excuse

to get out of there.

But it happens.

You get the feeling

you're letting them down.

I could see that in your dad's face.

He wanted to go, he'd seen enough.

But he didn't want to leave us.

Now, he was a hell of a good man,

your dad.

Yeah.

While we were sitting there

on the beach, we heard this great roar.

And we looked up.

That was the first

of thousands of landings on lwo.

- Look at that.

- Yeah.

How about that.

I'm gonna head back, all right?

Good luck.

That island saved a lot of lives.

A lot of lives.

I don't know what else to tell you.

After the bond tour

my dad finally got his operation.

By the time he got home

the war was over.

First thing he did

was ask my mom to marry him.

Ira tried to get on with his life

and put it all behind him.

Thank you for having me here today.

It's an honor to be in front of

such a strong people.

Because of the war

white men will understand Indians

a lot better.

And it's going to be a better world.

But life had other plans for him.

You're... You're him, aren't you?

You're the hero, right?

Great. All right, kids,

go get your picture taken.

Oh, that's great. That's great.

All right, now say cheese.

Cheese!

That's great! Okay.

Hey, thanks a lot. Thanks.

- Come on.

- That's a hero, kids.

Hero, lift this basket, will you?

It's too heavy for me.

Rene tried to take advantage of those

offers he'd received on the bond tour.

Yes. G-A-G-N-O-N.

Right. Pronounced Rene. Rene, yes.

- Okay, I actually called last week.

- Yes. Okay, yes. Mr. Gagnon.

I gave Mr. Tennack your message.

I'm sure he'll call you.

Okay. All right.

Thank you.

But he was yesterday's hero.

He even applied for a job

at the local police station.

They said he wasn't qualified.

After working the factory with Pauline

he tried a few things

but spent the rest of his life as a janitor.

But Ira...

Ira! You got a visitor.

Ira always made the news.

I could never find out why he did it,

but one day Ira just took off.

He walked and hitched over 1,300 miles

from Arizona to Texas.

He found Harlon Block's father

working his field.

His wife, Belle, had left him

soon after they discovered Harlon died.

She never forgave him

for letting her son go off to war.

And Ira told him the truth,

that it had been his son

who raised the flag with them,

his son in the photograph.

And then

he just turned and walked away.

Though the flag-raising

meant nothing to him,

he somehow knew

it would mean everything to them.

Thanks for calling.

Just as Belle knew all along.

The press soon found out

and called Hank's mom with the news

that it wasn't her son after all.

The last time they all saw each other

was at the unveiling

of the Marine Corps War Memorial.

And even though he planted

the first flag above lwo Jima,

Hank's mother and father

weren't invited.

Ira.

It's good to see you, Ira.

Hell of a statue.

It wasn't long after that

that they found Ira.

The papers said he died of exposure.

There was no autopsy.

It was about that same time

when my father got in his car

early one morning

telling my mom he had something to do.

He drove to a town on the other side

of Wisconsin where lggy's mom lived.

Ever since

she heard the news about her son

she'd been trying to find out

how he died, and no one would tell her.

I never found out what he told her,

but I can pretty much guarantee

it wasn't the truth.

My mother would ask him

what was troubling him.

He would never say.

And every year,

as it got close to Memorial Day,

the reporters would start calling

asking to interview my father.

No, I'm sorry. He's fishing in Canada.

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