Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers
Rob and I went to see the movie “Flags of Our Fathers” yesterday afternoon. Since I like history, and I never knew that the monument that sits in Washington, DC, of the raising of the flag during War World II, was based on a photograph, or that the men from the photograph were used to stomp the nation to raise money by the sale of war bonds, I really wanted to see the movie. It was very good. Clint Eastwood directed the movie and I usually like anything he does. I was not disappointed. I had a hard time convincing anyone to go with me. No one seemed to want to see it. I finally “twisted Rob’s arm” to go with me. I guess I could go to a movie alone, but I always feel I want to “share” it with someone. I still find it hard to believe that I never heard or read about any of the background on that monument. I did see the monument, more than once in person when I visited Washington, DC on a few trips. It’s an impressive one to see. I did some background research last night on the web and found that Iwo Jima is the only battle of World War II in which Americans suffered more casualities than the enemy. The entire cost of the statue and developing the memorial site was $850,000--all donated by U.S. Marines, former Marines, Marine Corps Reservists, friends of the Marine Corps, and members of the Naval Service. No public funds were used for this memorial. Until quite a few years ago, it was the only World War II monument. There is now a new one there for World War II that I would like to see someday. Did you read that they are raising money now to build a monument to Martin Luther King. I’m glad that they will be putting one there in his honor. In the month of November, I have seen 3 movies in the theater … the total number of the movies I usually see in a year! That’s really unusual!