Spike Lee is correct in saying that African-Americans played an instrumental role in World War II, in which more than 1 million black servicemen helped defeat the Axis Powers.

According to the History, African-Americans played significant role in the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. An estimated 700 to 900 African-American soldiers participated in the epic island battle, many of whom were Marines trained in segregated boot camps at Montford Point, within Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Clint Eastwood's portrayal of the specific battle is also accurate. In “Flags Of Our Fathers,” the multiple Academy award recipient, Eastwood focused on the soldiers who hoisted the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi. The task, according to the iconic photograph “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” was accomplished by white soldiers, and nobody disputes that fact. Eastwood’s other film, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” is told largely from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. Eastwood is also correct, when he says that black soldiers represented a small fraction of the total force deployed on the island.

But, Yvonne Latty, a New York University professor and author of a book about African-American veterans, holds contrary opinion. She says that Black soldiers "had the most dangerous job" in the battle. "If you were going to show the soldiers' landing, you'd need to show the black soldiers [African-Americans] on the beach," says Latty. The “Flags Of Our Fathers” depicts the landing in significant detail and just focuses on the historic event of hoisting the flag on Iwo Jima. The African-Americans soldiers appear only in fleeting cutaway shots and in a photograph during the film's closing credits.

Likewise, Christopher Moore, the author of a book about African-Americans' myriad contributions during World War II, laments the limited role accorded to African-Americans soldiers in the film. Moor says, “Without black labor, we would've seen a much different ending to the war."