Battle of Iwo Jima Holds Lesson for Today, Says Author Michael Class; Recommends "Flags of Our Fathers"

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 and Buzz Aldrin, 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 - with a moral lesson." 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 finds himself seventy-five feet below the surface of the tiny South Pacific island of Iwo Jima, inside an intricate network of tunnels, caves, and bunkers. He sees a notice on a wall. The notice says: “We are here to defend this island to the limit of our strength. Each of your shots must kill many Americans. We cannot allow ourselves to be captured by the enemy. If our positions are overrun, we will take bombs and grenades and throw ourselves under the tanks to destroy them. We will infiltrate the enemy’s lines to exterminate him. No man must die until he has killed at least ten Americans. We will harass the enemy with guerilla actions until the last of us has perished. Long live the Emperor!” The notice bears the signature of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the commander of Japanese forces on the island of Iwo Jima.

"I had to remind myself that it was February 23, 1945," reports Anthony, "because the words in the notice sounded so familiar to me. In my time, Islamic terrorists use the same words when they command their followers to kill Americans by turning themselves into human bombs. But they issue their orders on videotape, and they instruct their soldiers to die not for an emperor, but a God."

Anthony emerges from the tunnels in time to see six marines raise the American flag on Iwo Jima's 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 who raised the flag are the subject of the current motion picture, Flags of Our Fathers. 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.

"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, as the Japanese soldiers followed the orders posted on the cave wall. One by one, and sometimes in groups, the Japanese soldiers surfaced from their underground hideouts to attack - or to die by blowing themselves up in the middle of the American soldiers."

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 the twenty-one thousand soldiers they had on the island.

"It was a contrast I’ll never forget," explains Anthony. "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."

After the battle, Anthony sees American soldiers struggle to understand the enemy that would not surrender, the enemy that left no choice except to be wiped out. He learns that American soldiers faced the same horrifying fighting on other Pacific Islands: Victory on the island of Okinawa cost twelve thousand American lives, and the lives of more than one hundred thousand Japanese. The Japanese soldiers were under orders to fight until no one was left alive: They were trained from a young age to prefer death to surrender.

"Anthony witnesses events in both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II. Anthony learns the terrible price of allowing evil to take root, grow, and spread," says Class. "It's real history with a real lesson for today."

Historical accuracy rules every page of Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame: even Anthony’s conversations with the people of the past are based on things they really said. Class spoke with relatives of famous scientists and inventors, Holocaust survivors, award-winning biographers, and others to ensure that the facts of the book were both accurate and vivid. But, it's the book's emphasis on the lessons of history that make it a compelling read.

"It's not an easy book," says Class. "The book challenges the young reader to see the modern world in light of the lessons of the past. Anthony compares the people and events of the past with the people and events of his own time. Anthony discusses the nature of good and evil, right and wrong, war and peace, what it means to be an American, honor and discipline, success and achievement, courage and destiny, marriage and family, God and purpose."

Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame was named Outstanding Book of the Year and Most Original Concept of 2006 by Independent Publisher, Reviewers Choice by Midwest Book Review, and Editor's Pick by Homefires: The Journal of Homeschooling Online. Nationally syndicated talk-show host Michael Medved calls the book "entertaining and educational." Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin says "parents and teachers will appreciate the inspiring message this unique history book holds for America's next generation. I recommend this book to all young Americans, may they take us to the stars and beyond." ??Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame (hardcover, 225 pages, $26.50) is available at www.MagicPictureFrame.com, by calling toll-free 1-800-247-6553, at select bookstores, and on www.amazon.com.

Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame includes built-in tools for parents and teachers: recommendations for hundreds of books, movies, songs, and places to visit, keyed to the subjects of each chapter. The author's Web site includes a fun final exam; the author's blog is a place for readers to discuss the book's moral lessons (www.MagicPictureFrame.blogspot.com).

###

Note to editors and book reviewers: Author and son are available for interviews. Photographs and review copies are available.

Contact: Michael Class, 425-890-4894, class@MagicPictureFrame.com.