As a former Marine officer who served on active duty for for just four years, including time in Viet Nam, I will always be in awe of the Marines who fought across the Pacific during World War II.
This story was written by a Marine rifleman who fought on Peleliu and Okinawa with 2nd Battalion. 1st Marines. Yes, I know about Guadalcanal and Tarawa, but Peleliu and Okinawa were two of the toughest campaigns the Marines fought in. The Japanese had realized that suicide attacks and meeting the Marines at the water's edge wasn't paying off. They switched tactics and the Marines bled.
The author writes about these times, his fears, the buddies he saw die or get wounded, the times before and between campaigns, and brief moments when he felt human again. He also speaks of the nurse who, just by providing hot food and a dry place to sleep, reminded him of another world. And during the battle for Okinawa, he describes the moment when he stopped hating the Japanese.
This is a very human memoir of a young man who went to war. It is one of the few books I have ever read that compares with that greatest of all war books, The Red Badge of Courage.
This story was written by a Marine rifleman who fought on Peleliu and Okinawa with 2nd Battalion. 1st Marines. Yes, I know about Guadalcanal and Tarawa, but Peleliu and Okinawa were two of the toughest campaigns the Marines fought in. The Japanese had realized that suicide attacks and meeting the Marines at the water's edge wasn't paying off. They switched tactics and the Marines bled.
The author writes about these times, his fears, the buddies he saw die or get wounded, the times before and between campaigns, and brief moments when he felt human again. He also speaks of the nurse who, just by providing hot food and a dry place to sleep, reminded him of another world. And during the battle for Okinawa, he describes the moment when he stopped hating the Japanese.
This is a very human memoir of a young man who went to war. It is one of the few books I have ever read that compares with that greatest of all war books, The Red Badge of Courage.
