"Flags Of Our Fathers" a 'Must See' Movie, Says Author Michael Class. Like the Movie, Author's Inspiring History Book for Kids Tells Story of America's Heroes.
October 23, 2006 (Press Release) --
Author and photographer Michael S. Class has used advanced digital photography to place his twelve year-old son, Anthony, in the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis with Charles Lindbergh, on the moon with Neil Armstrong, in the laboratories of Thomas Edison and Jonas Salk, on Normandy beach on D-Day, and in the middle of the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.
"I wanted to capture the interest of today's kids," says Class, "by turning American history into a grand time travel adventure." The book, Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame, is recommended for young adults, grade 6 to grade 12. In the book, it looks like Anthony really did meet Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, FDR, Lou Gehrig, Charles Lindbergh, and Audie Murphy. The Web site, www.MagicPictureFrame.com, displays some of the book’s amazing photographs.
In the chapter on World War II, Anthony sees six marines raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi. Their photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal. The photograph became one of the most famous images of World War II. The photograph and the six marines are the subject of the current motion picture, Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood. Class recommends that parents take their high-school-age children to see the movie because it has important lessons about heroism, duty, and the horrible costs of war.
"I highly recommend the movie," says Class. "But, there is one aspect of the movie I disagree with: the movie seems to imply that the American people were turning against the war, and that the six marines were used in an exploitative publicity campaign to promote a war that was without merit. That is simply not true. Americans did not want to withdraw from World War II - they wanted to win the war. Americans understood the importance of what they were fighting for: they knew it was a war that had to be won. But, with nearly 400,000 soldiers dead, Americans were tired of the war and wanted victory to come soon. They ached for news of victory."
Rosenthal’s photograph became one of the most famous images of World War II. The photograph was used for War Bond promotions, printed on a United States postage stamp, and became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
"To the people back in the United States who saw the photograph in a newspaper," explains Class, "it seemed like the moment of victory had been captured on film. But the battle wasn’t over. The brutal fighting on Iwo Jima raged for nearly a month more."
"It was a contrast I’ll never forget," reports Anthony, the time-traveling eyewitness to history. "American soldiers on the sunny surface of the island, and Japanese soldiers below them in the dark caves. The American soldiers were fighting to survive, and the Japanese soldiers were following orders to die."
The battle of Iwo Jima ended on March 16, 1945, with twenty-four thousand American casualties, and more than six thousand Americans dead. The Japanese willingly sacrificed the lives of twenty thousand of t
"I wanted to capture the interest of today's kids," says Class, "by turning American history into a grand time travel adventure." The book, Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame, is recommended for young adults, grade 6 to grade 12. In the book, it looks like Anthony really did meet Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, FDR, Lou Gehrig, Charles Lindbergh, and Audie Murphy. The Web site, www.MagicPictureFrame.com, displays some of the book’s amazing photographs.
In the chapter on World War II, Anthony sees six marines raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi. Their photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal. The photograph became one of the most famous images of World War II. The photograph and the six marines are the subject of the current motion picture, Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood. Class recommends that parents take their high-school-age children to see the movie because it has important lessons about heroism, duty, and the horrible costs of war.
"I highly recommend the movie," says Class. "But, there is one aspect of the movie I disagree with: the movie seems to imply that the American people were turning against the war, and that the six marines were used in an exploitative publicity campaign to promote a war that was without merit. That is simply not true. Americans did not want to withdraw from World War II - they wanted to win the war. Americans understood the importance of what they were fighting for: they knew it was a war that had to be won. But, with nearly 400,000 soldiers dead, Americans were tired of the war and wanted victory to come soon. They ached for news of victory."
Rosenthal’s photograph became one of the most famous images of World War II. The photograph was used for War Bond promotions, printed on a United States postage stamp, and became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
"To the people back in the United States who saw the photograph in a newspaper," explains Class, "it seemed like the moment of victory had been captured on film. But the battle wasn’t over. The brutal fighting on Iwo Jima raged for nearly a month more."
"It was a contrast I’ll never forget," reports Anthony, the time-traveling eyewitness to history. "American soldiers on the sunny surface of the island, and Japanese soldiers below them in the dark caves. The American soldiers were fighting to survive, and the Japanese soldiers were following orders to die."
The battle of Iwo Jima ended on March 16, 1945, with twenty-four thousand American casualties, and more than six thousand Americans dead. The Japanese willingly sacrificed the lives of twenty thousand of t
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