by Adam Makos
First published 2014
Adam Makos presents the Pacific War through the voices of fifteen United States Marines who lived it. These men speak directly about their experiences from the Pearl Harbor attack through combat against Japanese forces to their eventual return home after V-J Day. The Marines share brutal accounts of frontline fighting against a determined enemy. They describe the bonds they formed with fellow soldiers and the losses they endured. Veterans like Sid Phillips, R.V. Burgin, and Chuck Tatum reveal how the war shaped their lives long after the fighting ended. Makos and Marcus Brotherton compiled this oral history using direct access to the veterans, rare photographs, and previously unpublished memoirs. The book features Marines from the 1st Marine Division, including those whose stories appeared in the HBO miniseries The Pacific. These firsthand testimonies capture both the heroism and the lasting impact of World War II combat in the Pacific theater.
Genres: 20th-century, world-war-ii, non-fiction, military-history, oral-history, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, war
Setting: Pacific, Pearl Harbor
Period: World War II
432 pages · Paperback · Dutton Caliber
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war