Rene! That's my boyfriend!
Who the hell is that?
I don't know.
-Rene, is that your girl? -Hey, what do they call you?
How about a photo? Hey, look at that!
What's your name, doll? What's your name?
Hey, she's a beauty.
Let's go find a saloon.
Smile, boys. Give them their money's worth.
Hey, Doc, how's the tour going for you?
Thank you.
Where exactly are you staying?
-I'm not sure yet. -Just forget about that.
Senator, I'd like you to meet Corpsman John Bradley.
-Doc, right? -Yes, sir. Nice to meet you, Senator.
Good to meet you, young man.
Now, we appreciate everything you've done and everything you're doing.
-Thank you, sir. -Quite all right.
This is Captain White.
-Colonel Johns. -We're proud of you, Corpsman.
And then Colonel McCourtney.
-Major General Green. -Nice to meet you.
Senator, this is Private First Class Ira Hayes.
Of course!
Now I hear you used a tomahawk on those Japs. Is that true, Chief?
No, sir.
Well, tell them you did, makes a better story, huh?
-Attaboy. -This is Captain Green.
John?
Madeline Evelley. I recognize you from all the photographs. I'm Hank's mom.
It's so nice to meet you, ma'am. Hank was always talking about you.
This is PFC Rene Gagnon.
Pleasure to meet you, son. Thanks for everything.
-My pleasure. -Not at all.
Ira, I'd like you to meet Mrs. Strank, Mike's mom.
It's all right.
When I got the telegram, I...
I don't know what I'm trying to say here.
Knowing he was with you that day and seeing him in that photograph,
I don't know why it makes me feel better, but it does.
-It's so silly, isn't it? -No, it's not.
How are you, son? Thank you very much.
We're the largest furniture wholesaler in Illinois.
Thank you. Excuse me.
-I'll make sure he calls. -Well, thank you. Thank you.
Are you Rene?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm Franklin's mother.
It's an honor to meet you, ma'am.
I'm Pauline, Rene's girlfriend.
Would you mind?
Paper said that's Hank,
and I honestly can't tell.
It's horrible of a mother not to know her own son, isn't it?
But that's him, isn't it?
Well, to be honest, ma'am, it happened so quick,
and with everything that was going on
it's kind of hard to remember who was where.
But...
Yeah, I think... I think that's where he was.
That's Hank.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Excuse us.
Take him outside.
I'm Pauline.
-Very nice to meet you. -Hi, nice to meet you.
He was the best Marine I ever knew.
Thank you.
-You okay, Chief? -Oh, Christ!
I'm okay.
Yeah, you look it. You're gonna screw this up, aren't you?
You're gonna screw it up for all of us.
I've got him.
Get some sleep, Ira.
-Mike? -Yeah?
-You see this? -What?
-Mike! -Oh, shit, go!
He's killing me!
Hey, Doc, you think they got them all?
What?
Well, they're not shooting at us. Maybe we killed them all.
Or they ran off in the night or something.
Or they're waiting for us to start climbing.
Third Platoon! Grab your gear, we're going up the hill.
-Just us? -Yeah, just us, lgg.
All right, Third Platoon, move!
I tag along?
Yeah, you can lead the way if you want. Get a good shot of my face.
It's your ass I'm gonna make famous, Hank.
Hey, that'll work for me, too.
Lieutenant,
if you make it to the top, put this up.
Yes, sir.
Don't worry, lggy. They never shoot at the first patrol.
-They don't? -No.
They want us to go up to the top, signal to the others that it's okay,
then shoot everybody else as they come up the mountain.
-Really? -Yeah.
Unless of course they want to make an example of us
and discourage all the others.
I think you're full of crap, you know that, Hank?
Really?
Jesus.
Thank God that ain't us.
Told you.
Boots, spread them out and put them on a line.
Set up a perimeter! First Squad!
-Hank? Find me a pole. -Yeah.
Let's put this flag up.
Watch it.
Right over here.
Right here. That's good. That's good. Right here, right here.
Got that end? Hold that steady.
Lindberg.
-Hey, who's got rope? -Right here.
Give me something. Yeah, good.
That work?
Do it, fellas.
Keep it coming.
USMC! USMC!
Shit, look at that!
Jeez, look at that.
Get down! Take cover!
Cover with that .30!
-Watch it! Twenty yards down, Hank! -You see them?
-I got about 20 yards, left side. -Lindberg, get the flamethrower!
-Boots, you see them? -Cover right!
-About 20 yards down! Duck one! -You see them?
Keep the cover on!
Second Squad, you see them?
Get me some grenades!
I see them!
You see them?
Right flank, over to the right!
Cover me, I'm going down!
Careful, lggy.
Easy.
All clear!
Okay, guys, who wants to be famous?
Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
-God damn it. Strank! -Sir?
They want a phone line run up to the top of the mountain.
Let me guess, they picked us.
Second Platoon, let's go. Get some exercise.
Let's go! Get off your ass.
Oh, shit!
Hope it still works, 'cause you're not getting mine!
-Get Forrestal! -All right, then.
I don't know whose idea it was, Mr. Secretary.
Well, it was goddamn brilliant. I want that flag, Holland.
Mark my words, raising that son-of-a-bitch
means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.
I want that flag.
Yes, sir. I'll make sure no one touches it.
You can count on me.
Fuck that. That flag belongs to the men in this battalion.
That son-of-a-bitch thinks that our men died taking this ground
so we could hand over our flag to some politician to pin to his wall?
He's out of his goddamn mind!
Get me that flag, and find another one to replace it.
You've gotta be shitting me.
Gagnon!
Get your ass over here.
Hey. Hi, fellas. How's it going?
Missed a beautiful shot, Joe.
It's that kind of day.
-Hey, Mike. -Hell of a view, Lieutenant.
Lieutenant!
Captain says he wants that flag.
He wants this flag?
Yes, sir.
-We just put the damn thing up. -Yes, sir.
Some kind of flag shortage?
He wants you to put this one up instead.
Hey, Mike.
Do me a favor and put this up, will you?
Yes, sir.
All right, let's find a pole.
Take the flag down, boys.
Captain's orders.
You heard him, let's do it.
There you go.
Lordy, she's a heavy one.
All right, hang on. Put this on.
One hell of a view, huh?
Good view from up here. Yes, I'd say so myself.
All right.
-Not in your way here, am I, Joe? -Nah, I'm fine, thanks.
Hey, Doc, you wanna give us a hand here?
Oh, Jesus, Bill, here she goes.
Ready? Ready?
Let's go.
You get it?
I don't know. I wish I could've seen their faces.
Nobody even noticed that second flag going up.
Everybody saw that damn picture and made up their own story about it.
But your dad and the others knew what they had done
and what they had not done.
All your friends dying,
it's hard not to be called a hero for saving somebody's life.
But for putting up a pole?
You gotta be kidding.
Hey! It took a lot of talented folks a long time to make that thing.
Just wait till tonight when it's lit properly
and there's thousands of cheering people in the stands.
It's gonna look a lot better.
So, stadium lights come down,
spotlight comes up and you get your cue.
You charge up this thing with the flag, you plant it at the top.
You smile, you wave. You know the drill.
You want us to plant the flag on a pile of papier-mâché.
Hey, that's show biz.
And try and stand how you stood the first time you planted it.
Just, you know, pretend the other three guys are with you.
The dead guys.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay, not a problem.
Good.
But where do we imagine Hank is standing?
Sorry?
Well, seeing that he wasn't there,
it'll be kind of hard for us to leave a space for him.
I think you know exactly where he was. You pointed him out to his mother.
This is bullshit.
I planted that damn thing once, and I'm not doing it again.
-Hayes! -Oh, for Christ's sake.
Hayes. Hayes, get your ass back here or you're going on report.
Hayes!
You wanna do your damn job?
Let go of me! Let go of me!
Come on!
He's with me!
Hey, he's with me!
-Back off! -Sir, he's with me. Okay? He's with me.
Ira, put the goddamn chair down!
-Put the chair down, son! -Put the chair down, Ira!
Tell them drop their sticks!
Ira, they're cops, they're supposed to have nightsticks.
You're not supposed to be in the street swinging a chair.
-Calm down, son. -Sir, turn around, please.
That poster right there? The one on the end, that's him.
-That's him? -Yes, sir. You read the papers?
Christ.
We got another fucking hero. Get him out of here.
-Can you do that? -Yes, sir.
Put the goddamn chair down. And let's go.
Did you start this?
He didn't serve me!
I don't make the rules. We don't serve Indians.
He needs to go sleep it off.
Soldier Field.
You hear that?
What the hell is that?
I can't figure it out.
Keep an eye out.
It sounds like it's coming from up there.
They're using grenades.
They're killing themselves.
Ira, let's go.
Come on.
Let's go, Ira. Come on.
Thank God. Jesus. Look at you, Chief.
You found him.
Holy shit. You would have to pick today.
Vandegrift is here with enough brass to start a fucking band.
Come on, let's go. Can you walk?
-Yes, sir. -By yourself?
All right, look. I don't care if you have to carry him
get him to the top, plant that flag, and don't fucking fall off.
Get him in his stuff. I'll stall these guys for as long as I can. Hurry up.
Jesus Christ.
And now, the heroes of lwo Jima!
Cover!
Harlon!
Harlon! Get your fire team up in that position!
O'Hare!
First Fire Team!
Work around!
BAR, you, on the side of the ridge!
Covering fire, boys, go, go, go!
Jackson, work your team around to the left!
Cover!
Left flank! Left flank!
Franklin, Gust, go check it out!
Hustle up, boys!
We got them!
Clear!
One hell of an experience.
Move out!
Cease fire! They're my men! You're targeting our men!
You're targeting our...
Get me another radio!
Sergeant? Sergeant!
Mike!
Mike, Mike, Mike.
Mike? Mike.
Hey, where's Doc?
Corpsman!
Oh, shit.
How's his breathing? Harlon, move, buddy.
Hey, Mike. Mike, Mike, can you hear us?
It's okay.
Come on, Mike.
Mike? Mike, can you hear us?
All right, let's go!
Move out!
I'm gonna get a stretcher.
Let's take him down, move him off the beach.
Ladies and gentlemen, the heroes of lwo Jima!
Corpsman!
Hank!
Doc, they killed me.
Harlon!
Doc,
they killed me.
Come on, Harlon. Harlon, stay with me.
Franklin!
I'm fine, Ira.
Corpsman!
-Where'd he go? -Who?
The guy who was right here, Ignatowski. Where did he go?
-I think you jumped in the wrong hole. -I didn't jump in the wrong hole!
He was right here, now where the hell is he?
lggy!
You shut up. You want every Jap on the island shooting at us?
lggy!
Does it open?
lggy!
lggy, are you down there?
lggy!
Can't tell who it is, but he's one of ours.
I had to go outside to throw up.
Look what they did to the poor son-of-a-bitch.
You okay, Chief?
Just let it go.
If that doesn't pry open their wallets, nothing will.
Jesus Christ, he's drunk.
Goddamn Indians.
Come on, Chief. Let's get you home.
That's not what I hear. I called around, I'm not stupid.
He's been drunk since he started this damn tour,
making a spectacle of himself.
Just about choked that poor woman at the reception, blubbering.
Jesus Christ, you're supposed to be watching these men.
Yes, sir.
Well, he's making us look like regular asses.
Well, with all due respect, sir,
he never wanted to come on this trip in the first place.
We had to pull him, kicking and screaming, off that boat.
He wants to be with his unit.
What unit? They're all fucking dead.
This is how he honors those men? By drinking and throwing up, and...
You know what? He wants it, great, we'll send him back.
Get him packed and on a train today. He's an embarrassment to the uniform.
Yes, sir.
I'll do it.
Yeah, no, that's... That's good. That's what I want.
I know it's a good thing,
raising the money and that, 'cause we need it.
But,
I can't take them calling me a hero.
All I did was try not to get shot.
Some of the things I saw done,
things I did,
they weren't things to be proud of, you know?
Mike...
Mike was a hero.
You ever meet him?
No.
Best Marine I ever met.
You know, Chief, I think if Mike was sitting here instead of you
he'd be saying the same thing about himself,
not being a hero.
Maybe.
He was a good guy.
But I think that he would be ashamed of me,
seeing me the way I am.
Think I could see my ma before they ship me off?
Think they'd do that? See my ma?
I'm sorry, Ira.
We got stories now to tell our kids, I guess.
Keep your head down.
All aboard.
Good luck, Chief.
I think I saw him once after that.
It was maybe six or seven years after the war.
I was working as a salesman, doing a lot of driving.
I was driving west across Texas.
I was just trying to get where I was going so I could get home.
And I saw this guy hitchhiking on the side of the road.
And, for a second, I thought it might've been him.
I always regret that I didn't stop, but I was in a hurry.
And he was an Indian.
We always told the press that Ira insisted
that he was going back to fight 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.
We were always instructed to say the same thing.
Okay. Thanks.
When Mr. McCandless retired,
my father bought the funeral home where he'd worked since coming home.
He spent the rest of his life running the business and raising his family.
He never spoke about the war or about the flag-raising,
never told us anything.
The first time I heard any of these stories was after he died.
Where is he? Oh, God.
He's not here, Dad.
He died.
Who? Who died?
lggy.
Iggy.
Christ, poor lggy.
I hadn't thought of him for years.
How do you know about lggy?
You were calling for him, when you collapsed.
I wasn't looking for lggy.
I was looking for you.
I wanted to...
I wanted to tell you I'm sorry I wasn't a better father.
Talked to you more.
I just...
I'm sorry.
Sorry?
You were the best father a man could have.
Did I ever tell you they took us swimming?
No, Dad.
After we planted the flag, we came down off the mountain
and they let us swim.
It was the funniest thing.
All this fighting
and we were jumping around in the water like kids.
That's the way I remember lggy now.
I finally came to the conclusion that maybe he was right.
Maybe there's no such thing as heroes.
Maybe there are just people like my dad.
I finally came to understand
why they were so uncomfortable being called heroes.
Heroes are something we create, something we need.
It's a way for us to understand what is almost incomprehensible,
how people could sacrifice so much for us.
But for my dad and these men,
the risks they took, the wounds they suffered,
they did that for their buddies.
They may have fought for their country, but they died for their friends.
For the man in front, for the man beside them.
And if we wish to truly honor these men,
we should remember them the way they really were,
the way my dad remembered them.
Come on, Doc!