In February, 1945, one of the fiercest battles of World War II occurs on the tiny island of Iwo Jima. Over a hundred thousand U.S. Marines attack the island stronghold maintained by only twenty-two thousand Japanese, and the slaughter on both sides is horrific. Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima is Clint Eastwood's tribute to those who lost their lives in the conflict. Flags of Our Fathers focuses on the story behind the iconic photograph of the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima's high point. The photograph becomes a powerful inspiration to war-sick Americans, and a symbol of the Allied cause. The three surviving flag raisers, Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), John Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), are whisked back to the U.S. to help raise funds for the war effort. But the accolades for heroism heaped upon the three men are at odds with their own personal realizations that thousands of real heroes lie dead on Iwo Jima, and that their own contributions to the fight are only symbolic and not deserving of the adulation they are receiving. Each of the three must come to terms with the honors, exploitation, and grief that they face simply for being in a photograph.