Wish Me Luck...I'm Gonna Need It

10 pages
Easy Company  was finally finished training at Camp Pendleton and moved to Camp Tarawa in Hawaii for more training. These 1500 Marines were assigned to invade Island X, which is what the military called it so the Marines would not know of what their destination was. But it wasn't too long until they found that they were going to Iwo Jima, an 8 square mile, god-forsaken island made of volcanic ash. With a forty day trip to the island, hundreds of ships and transports set sail with 100,000 men, millions of different supplies that could take care of Alabama for a month, and 100,000,000 cigarettes. Now that is a lot of cigarettes!! Its sad though, because most of these Marines will end of dying. To be exact, an average Marines life expectancy was 11 seconds when they hit the beach. That is very depressing and I am baffled on how my grandfather survived it.

12,000 Japanese soldiers ultimately fortified behind thick pillboxes, trenches, barricades, and artillery surrounding the island, it seems like an impenetrable island. But it has to be done.

 These pictures both show the transports that Marines stayed in on their way to Iwo Jima. (Above) In the background is a big ship that probably could hold up to 2000 men. Those small, tank-like boats are used to get inland unload the soldiers. (Below) These are medium sized transports with huge metal doors that unleash all of the Marines onto the beach. Every time there is an amphibious attack the first few lines always get slaughtered..

Brotherhood of the Easy Company

20 pages
According to the text, the six men were in Easy Company, which is quite ironic if you know what happened at iwo jima. And if your wondering, a Company (made of 250 soldiers) is made up of 3 platoons. 1 platoon is made up of 3 squads. 1 squad up of 4 soldiers, a team. Jack Bradley was in the 3rd platoon while Ira, Franklin, Harlon, and Mike were in the 2nd platoon. Mike was the squad leader of  Ira, Frank, and Harlon. Within the company, and probably all other companies, regiments, etc., there is a special loyalty and bond between the men, officers and soldiers. They all know they are in hell and that no one outside of the war will ever understand. Colonel Harry arrived and his job was to mold the men these men of the 28th Regiment into a ultimate fighting unit. The first thing they did was rifle training, then teamwork drills, and many different kinds of training for specialized soldiers. The conditioning they had to go through was insane. I remember how tough soccer and ski conditioning were but that is nothing compared to what these soldiers had to do.

There was a brotherly bond between each and every Marine, kind of like me and my friends. We look out for each other. We are a team. Mike Stank was someone the squad looked up to. He was their "big brother." "Everyone respected everyone," one Marine said. I wonder what it really feels like to be in war, but still have a special bond and laugh with your squad? maybe i would have a bond with a few soldiers if i went to war. but i wouldn't make too many cause most of them probly will die anyways...

I chose this picture because it shows the friendships between the men. Even in the think of war they looked after one another. They were "brothers."

They Were Destined To Meet

20 pages

Now that i have learned everything about those six men, i understand them more. Each had a different opinion of war and some even knew they werent coming home.

The six boys and many other Marines were to report at Camp Pendleton, a camp in a huge town called Rancho Santa Maragarita surrounded by rugged terrain. All of the men attending this camp would be in a new Marine Division, (the 5th Marine Division). This was what brought those six men together. I think they were destined to meet each other in the war. In this camp, they were trained again by specialized military officiers. The only thing im confued about is why only a select group of Marines were chosen to be in this division, Were they better or more valuable than other soldiers? I am not sure but all i know is that these six men are going to meet very soon. It is kinda cool how the book is written. Starting off introducing the characters who raised the flag and then telling about how they recruited into the war, which led them to how they met.

The symbol (to the left) is the symbol for the Marine 5th Division. The picture to the right shows many young, specialized men who were recruited into it.

This Is When Hell Really Begins

pg 11

The book is finally getting exciting! Mike, Ira, and Harlon were sent to Bougainville and got their first taste of war. Some say it was similar to D-Day and some day it was as closest to hell as you could get with its thick jungle like terrain, heat, bugs, and hidden Japanese soldiers. As i read, i was stunned how horrid this battle must have been. Mike was forced to slit a Japps throat from his "head in command" (he wasn't to happy about that). Ira witnessed countless people around get blown away by mortars and mowed down by machine guns. Harlon was in a spot of the island where there were no Japps. But they got ambushed and Harlon had to fight hand to hand with someone and then kill him. They never met on the island and sailed home in different boats and stayed houses a month after the battle was over. I too, would be horrified if i was in something like that. At this time, Franklin and Rene had just entered boot camp and Jack was being assigned as a medical corpsmen in the Pacific.


This is a picture of Bougainville. Ira, Mike, and Harlon fought on this awful jungle for 2 months and had endure the rough nights. Basically the only goal was to survive.

The Call of Duty...

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the recruiting stations were overwhelmed by the amount of people enlisting. Like my Grandpa said to me, "After Pearl Harbor, you didn't wait for the draft, you enlisted." What he said to me always got me thinking of why people did want to enlist. Mike Stank enlisted way before WWII even started. More people were enlisting into the Marines because "the Marines are the best, and don't you want to be the best?!" But to earn the right of being a Marine, every one of them had to go through bootcamp.

Aaah bootcamp, the place where grown men cry like babies lol. Not really, but it is extremely hard! The directing instructors job was to break you down and rebuild you into a "Marine." The recruits would go through hours and hours of brutal training and humiliation. I dont know if i could take it, i would try my hardest to succeed though


This picture shows how much the directing instructors yelled and criticized new recruits. You couldn't even cough without permission. They are superior, they are your master until you leave boot camp, and you either give them respect or get yelled at like this guy in the picture.
Here is a video that shows what boot camp for Marines are like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az2a9y0JLGE&feature=related

3 of the Men

20 pages

Wasn't able to read much but whatever. I finished the long chapter talking about the boys childhoods. It finished it by reading about Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and Mike Strank. This isn't much different than my last post since it has the general idea of describing boys. But i made a connection with Ira and Rene, which made me post this. Rene and Ira were two, smart boys as a kid. But they were very quiet, like me. The characters and I usually wait for someone else to start a conversation, rather than create one our self. Rene was a good worker and so was Ira. I guess you could say i am a good worker, but just at the things i want to do. I also relate to Mike Strank because he was the Sergeant, leader, of the squad. He has always been the boss of everything, even of his childhood friends. Like me, i like to be the leader, never the follower.

I think that was pretty cool for the author to do what he did. He makes it seem like he is talking to you in person as he tells you the story of how he travels all over the country to find the details and background of the six boys. Now that i know more about the boys, I will be able to understand on why or how they react to different things on the battlefield. It is a good book because it starts slow, but leads up to a very exciting story. I'm a little into the next chapter and its already interesting, i can't wait to find out what happens next.


Mike Strank was always a leader.

All-American Boys

(20 pages) I like how the book is starting out. It isn't talking about the war or being in the war at all, but about the childhood of the six boys. With the help of friends and families of the soldiers, James Bradley was able to describe the six boys with vivid details explaining everything about them: what their hobbies were, what they did for fun, what they did for work, of they were a good or bad boy, etc. So far, i have learned about James Bradley, Franklin Sousley, and Harlon Block. In fact, i learned too much about their past.

I think the author is trying to show you the boys background to show that they were ordinary boys of that time, no different than other. They all had dreams of accomplishing hard tasks, and without video games, or any modern devices to keep them occupied, they were able to focus on what their dream was. The war was an opportunity to become something better than you were, a simple child. I mean, what boy doesn't like hearing about the war and shooting guns. They left everything that they had behind, and went off to war. They had become the men they always wanted to be.