Top News

Richfield, Minn. (AP) ― Chuck Lindberg doesn't act in the new Clint Eastwood movie, "Flags of Our Fathers," but he's the star of the credits, anyway.

The Richfield man, the last survivor among the Marines who famously raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi during World War II, is mentioned a couple of times in the film (which opens Friday), but he's not a major character in it. He is, however, prominently featured in the closing credits of the film, which feature a pair of pictures of him -- one as he's helping raise the flag and another of him alone.

"That was nice, to get us some recognition," says Lindberg, 86, who saw a preview screening of the film two weeks ago.

"Flags of Our Fathers" tries to set straight the historical record about Iwo Jima by pointing out that the flag was raised twice -- Lindberg participated in the first raising, which is not the one depicted in the famous Iwo Jima photograph. And it says that, although World War II publicity efforts suggested it was a victorious moment, the Marines themselves had ambiguous feelings about it because so many lives were lost in the 36-day battle.

"The movie wasn't too bad, but there were things about the way it was run that I don't know about. There was too much action," says Lindberg, who has a vivid memory of the times and places associated with the flag-raising day, even though it was more than 61 years ago. "And the language wasn't really good. I don't remember people using language like that, but it could have been."

Lindberg was particularly impressed with the performance of Adam Beach as a soldier forced by the U.S. government to participate in war fundraising. And he says the movie nails the character of another Marine, Rene Gagnon.

"We all knew he wanted to be an actor," says Lindberg.

Not so, says actor Jesse Bradford, who plays Gagnon: "Mr. Lindberg was there, so I hate to call anything he says into question, but I think that's the myth getting mixed with the truth. I know Rene was handsome and they called him 'the movie star,' but I spent many hours with his son and the thing about wanting to be an actor never came up."

Lindberg and Bradford's differences of interpretation go to the heart of the movie, which tries to set the record straight on Iwo Jima, a record that has been muddied by military PR and by the John Wayne movie "The Sands of Iwo Jima." According to a University of Minnesota scholar, that puts "Flags of Our Fathers" right in line with a current movement in historical research.

"For about 10, perhaps 20, years, historians have been deeply involved in the study of memory and the way (countries) almost create memories through memorials," says Lary May, a professor of American studies and the author of "The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way." "The scholarship tries to look at events that create a certain memorialization and ask, 'What is being left out? What memories are being suppressed?"'

Bradford says that's the sort of thing "Flags" director Clint Eastwood was interested in.

"You take a bit of artistic license, obviously, but as far as the major beats of the story go, Clint was trying to make sure he got the truth out there," says Bradford.

Lindberg hopes "Flags of Our Fathers" will help audiences understand what soldiers endured at Iwo Jima. In a way, the movie itself could be a kind of memorial.

"This is something that needs to be remembered, and it took a lot to make ('Flags of Our Fathers')," says Lindberg. "I would recommend it."

The former Marine goes further than that. He has heard that Eastwood is working on a second Iwo Jima film that tells the story from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. "Letters From Iwo Jima" will be released in February, and Lindberg expects to be in the audience for it, too.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)