“Flags of our Fathers” is a movie about the six men who raised the flag during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War Two. The picture of that flag raising, taken by AP photographer, Joe Rosenthal, is thought to be the most copied photo in the world, one of the most famous pictures in history.

The battle for a small volcanic island took over five weeks and cost nearly 7,000 American lives. The U.S. needed the island as an air base for planes going to and from Japan. In a battle fought mostly by Marines, 27 Medals of Honor were handed out, the most for any battle of the war.

Clint Eastwood’s film deals mostly with the three survivors of the flag raising (the other three were killed before the battle ended.) The men were used as props by the war department to raise money for war bonds. They were declared heroes: wined, dined and feted around the country. And most of the time they felt like impostors. As so many who survived the war did, they felt the real heroes were buried in shallow graves on a Pacific island far from home.

The film raises questions about heroism, courage and sacrifice. The questions are not easily answered, the definitions not exact. But the film is also a celebration of those things and of the men who fought.

We tend to forget that those who fought and won the Second World War were men of 19, 20 and 21. Yes, many were older, but the vast majority were in their early 20s. In civilian life, they were ordinary guys; farmers, truck drivers, clerks, teachers, factory workers and laborers. They were “citizen soldiers” who beat armies with hardened, professional soldiers. And then they came home to resume middle class lives, never again the same because of what they had seen and what they had done.

The film compares favorably with “Saving Private Ryan” in it’s scope and intensity. If you know just a bit about Iwo Jima and the flag raising, then the film will add much to your knowledge. If you know nothing, then I would even more urge you to see it. The men who died and the men who survived should not be forgotten.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Actually, more than one, all of them dealing with World War II.

These are among the very best done with the World War as a backdrop, but as always with films based on history, there is a caution: any film, no matter how much it strives for accuracy, will have some mistakes, most very minor. Some will have a uniform wrong, or a date, or some of the characters will be a composite. There will be something not quite right, but in almost all cases, the mistakes are minor, nitpicking things which don’t detract at all from the film and the story. They are history on the big screen and worth your time.

“Patton”, 1970

I don’t know if anyone has ever won a Best Actor Oscar unanimously since the vote is not announced, but George C. Scott’s portrayal of the famed general probably came the closest. Patton was profane, courageous and a larger than life figure. The movie accurately gives a fascinating portrait of one of the great field commanders in U.S. History, warts and all.

“Saving Private Ryan”, 1997

I’ve had D-Day veterans tell me the first twenty minutes comes as close as possible in a movie to showing what it was really like as U.S. soldiers went ashore in France against German artillery and machine guns. Two thousand Americans died on Omaha beach. Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, an ordinary guy thrust into an extraordinary position. The best war movies show what the average soldier went through and this is among the very best.

“The Were Expendable”, 1947

Directed by the great John Ford, this movie stars John Wayne and Robert Montgomery as PT boat commanders in the Phillipines during the first days of the war. It’s based on the true story of the men who got General Douglas McCarthur out of the Phillipines just ahead of the Japanese. The title refers to the fact that the U.S. soldiers there were expendable. No help was forthcoming. Many died in battle or a much slower death in a Japanese prison camp. It’s among the best ever made.

“Tora, Tora, Tora”, 1970

This is the story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor told from both the Japanese and American points of view. It’s considered historically accurate in almost every detail and far superior to “Pearl Harbor” made a few years ago with Ben Affleck.

“30 Seconds Over Tokyo”, 1944

This is based on the raid by Jimmy Doolittle (played by Spencer Tracy) and his men on Tokyo just a few months after the war started. The raid did little damage, but it was a major morale boost for the U.S. at a time when the news was all bad. Many of his men lost their lives, some executed by the Japanese.

“Memphis Belle”, 1990

This is the true story of the first U.S. air crew to complete 25 bombing missions over Europe. Most crews didn’t come close to 25. Sooner or later, they were almost all shot down. The “Memphis Belle” was probably the most famous plane of the war and was piloted by Robert Morgan, a native of Asheville, North Carolina.

“Band of Brothers”, 2001

This is actually a mini-series, not a movie. It appeared on HBO, won a host of Emmy awards and has played several times on the history channel. Accurate in almost every detail, it’s the true story of Easy company of the 101st Airborne Division. They jumped into Normandy on D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and became the most famous company of the war thanks to Steve Ambrose’s book of the same name. It’s ten hours long, but if you can see only one World War Two movie, let this be the one. In my view, it’s the best mini-series ever made, on any subject.

There are many others worth your time: :”The Story of G.I. Joe”, “The Great Escape”, “Midway”, “Battle of the Bulge”, “The Longest Day” and “Bridge on the River Kwai”, all of them based on true stories.