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Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
In director Allan Dwan's revisionistic, politically-correct,
blatantly-patriotric, historically-inaccurate action-war drama, made
after the war by Republic Studios; the film's backdrop was
of the training and preparation required of the US Marine recruits
before they landed on Iwo Jima in 1945; specifically, it followed
the conflicts that emerged between two individuals
in particular, a war of words and values between Sgt. Stryker and
PFC Peter Conway:
- the film's opening was accompanied by the playing
and singing of the Marines' Hymn ("From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli..."), followed by an appreciative
scrolling tribute to the brave members of the Marine Corps and
for their help in the making of the film
- tough, battle-hardened and
harsh Marine Sergeant John M. Stryker (Oscar-nominated John Wayne,
with his first Academy Award Best Actor nomination) addressed his
combat soldiers in New Zealand in 1943 - a new batch of rebellious
greenhorn recruits-troops to fight in the Pacific theatre of the
war as a rifle squad. Although he would exhaust the recruits with
his rough training methods, the infamous commander was determined
to mold them into fighting men. His strict expectations were echoed
in his commands to the rifle squad:
("In boot camp, you learned out of a book. Out here, you gotta
remember the book and learn a thousand things that have never been
printed, probably never will be. You
gotta learn right and you gotta learn fast. And any man that doesn't
want to cooperate, I'll make him wish he hadn't been born. Before
I'm through with ya, you're gonna move like one man and think
like one man. If you don't, you'll be dead...You joined the Marines
because you wanted to fight. Well, you're gonna get your
chance. I'm here to see that you know how. If I can't teach ya
one way, I'll teach ya another. But I'm gonna get the job done")
- the gung-ho Stryker repeatedly used the phrase:
"Saddle up!" to get his platoon of soldiers moving
- one of Stryker's men was Pfc Peter Conway (John
Agar) - the college-educated son of Colonel Sam Conway (Stryker's
deceased former commanding officer at Guadalcanal) who was killed
10 months earlier; Conway felt that his commanding officer Stryker
was similar to his demanding father, who had shamed him, thought
he wasn't tough enough, and had considered him cowardly and inferior;
the two often sparred with each other
- five years earlier, the hard-nosed Sgt. Stryker
had separated from his wife Mary and now 10 year-old son (who
failed to write to him), and had become embittered with life, when
his ex-wife took full custody; he began drinking, and often took
out his frustrations on the men under his command
- almost immediately, Stryker again lectured his
squad: "I'm gonna make it nice and simple so you'll all understand
it. They handed you guys as a present, a regular Easter
basket. And they told me to get ya into some kinda shape so you
could handle a little piece of this war. And that's what I'm gonna
do. And that means I'm gonna tell ya what to do - every day, and
every minute of every day. I'm gonna tell ya how to button your
buttons. I'll even tell ya when to blow your noses. And if you
do somethin' I don't like, I'm gonna jump and when I land, it'll
hurt. I'm gonna ride ya until you can't stand up. And when you
do stand up, you're gonna be Marines."
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Examples of Film's Many Action-Battle Scenes - at Tarawa Atoll
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- during the brutal November 1943 assault on the
Japanese base at Tarawa atoll, Stryker's unit landed on the beach head,
but they were faced by non-stop machine-gunfire from a bunker that
slaughtered many of the men; Stryker took it upon himself to single-handedly
race forward, grab the satchel charges (from a downed soldier) and
toss them into the bunker - and he successfully blew it up
- and assertively told Sgt.
Stryker: "Aren't you human at all? Don't you realize a friend
of yours may be dying!...Well, you can sit here and be tough if you
wanna. But I'm goin' out there and get that guy. And the only way you
can stop me is to kill me," to which Sgt. Stryker replied: "That's
just what I'll do" and pointed his rifle in Conway's face;
Bass was ultimately rescued the next morning
- ironically, Conway proved his manhood and worth
by heroically saving Stryker's life during a difficult landing
on the rocky cliffs of Japan's island of Iwo Jima, when Stryker
was unexpectedly jumped by a Japanese soldier with a sword; Conway
jumped in to defend Stryker by stabbing the enemy to death; afterwards,
the two established a strong friendship and bond; Conway also told
Stryker that he was going to name his son Sam after his father: ("We're
gonna name him Sam, Sam Conway")
- in an unexpected scene, Stryker died an unheroic
death from a random bullet; he had just completed the strategic assault
on the volcanic Japanese island fortress of Iwo Jima; he had paused
to relax with a cigarette after having just told fellow Marine
Conway: "As a matter of fact, I never felt so good in my life." He
was asking: "How about a cigarette?" - when he was shot
and killed by a Japanese sniper in an underground spider hole
Stryker Lighting Up a Cigarette on Iwo Jima
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Conway Reading Dead Stryker's Unfinished Letter to
His Son
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Stryker's Corpse After an Unexpected Death
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- as Conway embraced Stryker's dead body, he
discovered an undelivered and unfinished letter written by Stryker
to explain himself to his son; it was a somber and dramatic moment
as Conway emotionally read the letter out-loud: ("Dear son,
I guess none of my letters have reached you, but I thought I'd better
try again 'cause I have the feeling that this may be the last time
I can write you. For a long time, I've wanted to tell you many things.
Now that you're a big boy, I will. If we could have been together
even for a little while, I could've explained many things much better
than writing them. You've gotta take care of your mother, and love
her and make her happy. Never hurt her or anyone as I did. Always
do what your heart tells you is right. Maybe someone will write you
some day and tell you about me. I want you to be like me in some
things, but not like me in others, because when you grow older and
get to know more about me, you'll see that I've been a failure in
many ways. This isn't what I wanted, but things just turned out that
way. If there was only more time, I..."); the letter
abruptly ended unfinished: "I guess he never finished it," but
Conway promised to finish it
- the film's last line (accompanied by the singing
of The Marines' Hymn) was delivered by Conway (using Stryker's words)
- it was heard with the memorable raising of the flag ("There
she goes") on Mount Suribachi in February of 1945: "All
right! Saddle up! Let's get back in the war!"
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Sgt. Stryker (John Wayne) Addressing His New Recruits
Stryker: "Saddle up!"
Pfc. Peter Conway (John Agar)
Stryker Again Lecturing His Men
Stryker in the Trenches With His Men at Tarawa
Conway Arguing with Stryker About Rescuing Wounded Pfc Bass
Approach-Assault on Iwo Jima
Stryker
Thanking Conway For Saving His Life
Raising of the Flag on Mt. Suribachi
Conway: "All right. Saddle up. Let's get back in the war!"
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