Chapter One: Sacred Ground Summary and Analysis

Author James Bradley traveled to Iwo Jima with his elderly mother and three brothers. They were going to visit the memorial on the small Japanese island where the famous American Flag raising took place near the end of World War II. Bradley's father was one of those six soldiers who participated in that event.

Bradley had always wondered why his father would never talk about the iconic event. Yet, after his father died, he and his brothers found letters that John Bradley had written to his parents after the event and he referred to the flag raising as the "happiest moment of his life." Yet, John would never talk about it, even at the urging of James and his other seven siblings.

Once the family members reached the Suribachi mountain on Iwo Jima, the spot...