Pacific War Stories: In the Words of Those Who Survived

by Rex Alan Smith (Editor), Gerald A. Meehl (Compiler)

This is the most extensive collection published to date of first-person oral histories on so many diverse aspects of the war in the Pacific―told in gripping, eyewitness accounts by more than seventy veterans from all branches of service. In this new book by the authors of Pacific Image and Memory of World War II in the Pacific, the history of the War in the Pacific comes vividly to life in the words of those who witnessed it first hand. The editors create for the reader, as the veterans themselves recall it, what that war was like―how it looked, felt, smelled, and sounded. The stories collected here are a unique portrayal of the mundane, exotic, boring, terrifying, life-altering events that made up their wartime experiences in World War II in the Pacific, a war fought on countless far-flung islands over an area that constitutes about one-third of the globe. What the veterans saw and lived through has stayed with them their entire lives, and much of it comes to the surface again through their vivid memories. This is an important book for military buffs as well as for the survivors of World War II and their families.

The narratives, grouped into fifteen thematic, chronologically arranged chapters, are stirring, first-hand accounts, from front-line combat at the epicenter of violence and death to restless, weary boredom on rear area islands thousands of miles from the fighting. While their experiences differed, all were changed by what happened to them in the Pacific. These are not the stories of sweeping strategies or bold moves by generals and admirals. Instead, we hear from men and women on the lower rungs, including ordinary seamen on vessels that encountered Japanese warships and planes and sometimes came out second best, rank-and-file Marines who were in amtracs churning toward bullet-swept tropical beaches and saw their buddies killed beside them, and astounded eyewitnesses to the war’s sudden start on December 7, 1941.

Genres: History

512 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book of short stories. Collected memories. Some just a page or two, some 10-11 pages long. Great to read to pay tribute in some small way to these men.

[Scott Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of disappointed in this book. Even though it was full of stories told by the people who experienced them, it did not feel personal. It was a lot of "I went here, I did this, then I did this." I wanted to hear why they did what they did and how it made them feel. I just yearned for more personal details and stories. These stories were just about their actions.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

That chapter on Harry Fukuhara is incredible. As are many others- a great collection of stories. I could have done without one or two, but overall, well edited and presented.