Vet: Movie accurately portrays Iwo Jima
Weslaco sponsors movie event for World War II veterans, invited guests
By TRAVIS M. WHITEHEAD The Monitor
WESLACO — “Flags of Our Fathers” is an accurate portrayal of the vicious fighting at Iwo Jima, James Bell Jr. said. He should know. He was there. Bell, 83, who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima in early 1945, saw the movie Wednesday night at a private viewing at Cinemark Movies 10. Numerous World War II veterans and those of other wars, as well as invited guests, attended the event sponsored by the Weslaco Museum and city of Weslaco in cooperation with Cinemark 10 Movies and Paramount Films. The movie opens for wide release today. “I thought it was pretty good, pretty realistic,” said Bell, who proudly showed off a helmet with two bullet holes — an entrance and an exit — that he wore while fighting for control of the island during the famous World War II battle. Bell, who now lives in San Antonio, said the bullet was deflected by some sugar packets he had stuffed into the helmet. The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Eastwood and Steven Spielberg, told the story of the six men who raised the U.S. flag over Mount Suribachi in “The Photograph” snapped by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. One of those men, Harlon Block, was raised in Weslaco. He died on the frontlines a few days after the photograph was taken. Beginning with a scene depicting the three surviving flag-raisers hailed as heroes when they returned home, the movie consists of a series of flashbacks to various moments in their wartime experiences. “I liked the format,” said Glen Cleckler, 81. “Because that’s how we are.” The movie was based on the book “Flags of our Fathers” by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Bradley’s father, John “Doc” Bradley (played by Ryan Phillipe), was one of the flagraisers; he survived the battle and was labeled a hero. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona portrayed by Adam Beach, and Rene Gagnon (played by Jesse Bradford, were the other survivors. Like Block, the two other Marines who raised the flag, Michael Strank and Franklin Sousley, didn’t make it back home alive. As the movie shows, the three men who did make it back were ordered to participate in a bond drive to raise $14 billion to further fund the war against Japan, further propelling them into the public eye. Unlike Gagnon, Hayes and Bradley never quite seemed to revel in the limelight into which they were thrust. Cleckler, who volunteered for the Marine Corps in early 1943 with Block and six other classmates from Weslaco High School, said he could relate to Hayes’ and Bradley’s discomfort with all the attention. “I am just not into that,” he said. “What about the guys that didn’t make it? “On the other hand, they dumped a guilt trip on (Gagnon, Hayes and Bradley), ‘You have to help us raise money,’” Cleckler said. “I can see both sides.” The movie portrayed Hayes as the most troubled: about what he’d seen at Iwo Jima; about the hero’s welcome; and about his serious bout with alcoholism. Cleckler met Hayes in Honolulu before they shipped out for Iwo Jima. The troops destined to fight on the tiny island had stopped there for one last leave before heading off to fight. It was during this leave that Block gave Cleckler his Marine Corps ring to give to his mother back in Weslaco; Block didn’t believe he would return home. Block’s mother allowed Cleckler to keep the ring and he was wearing the shiny piece to the movie’s private screening Wednesday night. He was glad he watched the movie, even though it haunted him to see what he considered such an accurate portrayal of the famous battle. “I don’t go to war movies,” he solemnly said.