First published 2016
Donald Stratton tells his story as the sole USS Arizona survivor to publish a memoir about Pearl Harbor. At nineteen, the Nebraska farm boy was stationed aboard the battleship when Japanese bombers struck on December 7, 1941. A massive explosion killed 1,177 of his shipmates and burned two thirds of his body. Stratton crawled across a rope to safety while oil fires raged in the water below. Military doctors wanted to amputate his damaged limbs, but Stratton refused and fought to walk again. The Navy discharged him as unfit for duty. Stratton disagreed. In 1944, he returned to the Pacific aboard a destroyer and fought at Leyte Gulf, Luzon, and Okinawa. His service spanned from the war's first battle to its last major engagement. Now ninety four, Stratton breaks decades of silence to share his experiences of survival, recovery, and his drive to finish what the enemy started.
Genres: 20th-century, autobiography, world-war-ii, biography-memoir, military-history, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-adversity, redemption
Setting: Nebraska, Pacific, USS Arizona
Period: 1941, 1944
306 pages · Hardcover · Mariner Books
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, medical-trauma