"Flags of our Fathers" tells the story of the world famous photograph that was shot on February 23^rd, 1945 at the battle for Iwo Jima during World War II. Not the war, plenty of stories have been told about the war, and there were plenty of gruesome reenactments of this historic battle in this film. But this movie focused specifically on the picture of six servicemen who served in that battle and raised the American flag high atop Mount Suribachi, over 60 years ago.

It’s important to put this moment in time in its proper context. In 1944 the country was bankrupt. People were becoming cynical and tired of war. One photograph, almost entirely on its own changed that. Although the battle for Iow Jima raged for months after that image was captured, and not long after the picture was taken half the men in it were dead, that picture symbolized victory for Americans.

It was that hope that the government sought to capitalize on. The government needed a hero, with this shot they had three living ones and three martyrs. What better platform for a War Bond drive? This movie did a great job capturing the politics and the manipulation that went on behind the scenes for these young men. How high a pedestal they were hoisted on and how far they were allowed to drop, once the spotlight dimmed.

I knew that the country wasn’t in the best financial shape at that time, but I never really knew how dire the situation was. Things were bad. Other countries lent the U.S. money and then stopped cold. One of the soldiers in the picture was so uncomfortable being labeled a "hero" that he actually preferred to go back to battle instead of being used for the bond drive. The organizer of the drive told him that if he wanted to go back to war "…go ahead, but make sure you put some rocks in your pockets before you go because those are the only weapons we can afford."

This movie wasn’t all victorious flag raisings and "USA, USA" chants. Eastwood pulled no punches with the gore and the graphic war reenactments. Bullets pierced, body parts flew and organs were exposed, to really drive home how important the true meaning of the word "war" is and what that word represents.

Eastwood also framed, in my opinion, a great motion picture compartmentalizing the proper treatment of the word "hero," as it pertains to those who serve in a war. A "hero" is something we create. Most war veterans would choose to forget their time in war all together, rather than reminisce on it. War heroes should be remembered for who they really are as men, not how we make them out to be.