Author encourages believing in the impossible

WAILEA, Hawaii — James Bradley, the author of Flags of Our Fathers, told an audience here at Hawaiian Eye 2009 that they can make what seems impossible possible.

Mr. Bradley said that finding the inspiration to have faith in one's ability to overcome great odds could be found not only in the incredible story of the men who fought at Iwo Jima, but also through his own struggles to have the unheard stories of those heroes turned into a bestselling book.

Flags of Our Fathers tells the story of the men pictured in the famous photo of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. The photo is the most reproduced photo ever taken, Mr. Bradley said. Mr. Bradley's father was one of the six soldiers in the photo and one of three to make it home from there alive.

Mr. Bradley said he knew nothing of his father's experiences at Iwo Jima while he was living, but after his father died, he found a letter his father had sent to his parents describing the flag raising as the happiest moment of his life.

James Bradley

This led Mr. Bradley on a quest to learn about the battle of Iwo Jima. Eventually, he decided the story of the heroes of the battle of Iwo Jima was so compelling that he should write a book about it.

"What I wanted to know was, what were these guys doing there at that time? What was going on?" he said.

Mr. Bradley, because of his father, was able to get the families of those involved in the photo to talk about things they had not publicly shared before.

The photo itself, which was a small story of the 36-day battle, created a national sensation.

"I thought, if that's the No. 1 photo, I should get these stories out somehow. Maybe I should write a book," Mr. Bradley said. "I thought, I had to write a good book. And what's a good book? A New York Times No. 1 bestseller."

Publishers, not to mention his own family members, were not so receptive to the book, but Mr. Bradley persevered, convinced that this story would become a bestseller. Once it was published, in its first week, it was No. 2 on the bestseller list, and then it quickly reached No. 1.