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Life & Arts

Accuracy vital for 'Flags' star

by FABIAN SIFUENTES
The Daily Cougar

One four-hundredth of a second -- a time you can miss in the blink of an eye -- was all it took to immortalize five Marines and a Navy corpsman planting an American flag on top of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

The moment captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in February 1945 mesmerized a nation looking for heroes after more than three hard years of war.

The men on the mountain would modestly argue they were only doing their duty as they removed the first flag so it could be kept as a war trophy for then Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

Barry Pepper, who portrayed Sgt. Mike Strank in Flags of our Fathers, said it was the duty of the cast to accurately portray the events surrounding the flag raising.

"For me personally, a tremendous amount of research goes into historical characters," Pepper said. "Not only the responsibility factor, (but) knowing that the family of the man you're playing is going to ultimately see the film and have an emotional response to it."

Strank was killed in action six days after the flag was raised. 

Pepper's performance was based on the accounts of veterans who served with Strank at Iwo Jima.

"I found (Strank) to be unique in the sense that he wasn't your prototypical Marine sergeant that we've all seen so many times in past war films," Pepper said. "You know, 45 years old and grizzly old man barking orders and chomping on a cigar.

"He was just a young kid. He was 24 years old and he was leading other young men into battle. He led by example, and (his men) really looked up to him, but he truly loved his men and promised perhaps naively to bring them all home to their mothers."

Pepper said he found Strank to be a fascinating figure.

"I was just intrigued by his sensibilities. I didn't realize I had gotten it right until I just recently received a letter from the family thanking me for an honest portrayal of him," Pepper said.

Pepper's past appearances in war movies such as Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers could lead fans to believe he is specifically drawn to war movies.

"There's no conscious design on my part to set out to do war films. In fact, I see them as emblematic antiwar films at the end of the day, but it's the stories really (that are enticing)," Pepper said. "You know they could really be stories set against any backdrop. They're just incredible stories, and I feel compelled to be part of them because of the themes that they represent.

"I love timeless themes of friendship, love and sacrifice. All of the themes that we all seem to love about great stories, and that's really what draws me to them."

Heroism is a major focus in Flags of Our Fathers, and Pepper has his own outlook on what makes a hero.

"I was watching CNN the other day, and there were families in Alaska that had just learned that their loved ones that they were expecting home from Iraq … they had been extended for four to five months," Pepper said. "Just watching those families, the young women or young men at home with the children. 

"You know, waiting for their loved ones and seeing the disappointment and the sacrifice that they are going through -- it quickly refines your definition of a hero."

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