How appropriate on the Veterans Day holiday to spend a couple of hours watching Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers.
Admittedly, the movie jumped around quite a bit, showing the well-filmed battle scenes in flashbacks, so I had a bit of trouble keeping up with the characters. That said, Eastwood brilliantly presents the big picture: the U.S. military mobilized a hell of a lot men and materiel to take an island occupied by Japanese troops who, quoting a Marine commander, “were not going to leave politely.”
Taking Iwo Jima cost a many lives. But, as one veteran pointed out, “That island saved a lot of lives.”
