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American Military Experience
No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944
October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller’s pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death of Navy Seaman Second Class Wanza E. Matthews, moments before midnight, after the Japanese submarine I-56 attacked his ship off New Guinea. The sinking of the hellship Arisan Maru―a lesser-known tragedy of the war―bookends and weaves through the two-dozen selected other incidents.
No Average Day eschews the conventional discourse of the war’s origins, its great battles, and the maneuvering of generals, admirals, and politicians. Instead, it directs its attention to ordinary individuals―clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. These are men, perhaps a reader’s brother, father, or neighbor, who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place. There, described in relatable terms, the men hunch their shoulders against the cold, wipe grit from their foreheads, or pen a letter home minutes before drawing their last breath. No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in France and jungles in the South Pacific, to the villages, placid bays, and forested mountainsides across the globe where the war also raged.
No Average Day eschews the conventional discourse of the war’s origins, its great battles, and the maneuvering of generals, admirals, and politicians. Instead, it directs its attention to ordinary individuals―clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. These are men, perhaps a reader’s brother, father, or neighbor, who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place. There, described in relatable terms, the men hunch their shoulders against the cold, wipe grit from their foreheads, or pen a letter home minutes before drawing their last breath. No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in France and jungles in the South Pacific, to the villages, placid bays, and forested mountainsides across the globe where the war also raged.
- GenresWar
362 pages, Hardcover
First published October 24, 2024
About the author
Rona Simmons
11 books50 followersRona Simmons is an award winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction. For the last several years, she has focused on untold and often overlooked stories from World War II, “The sweep of events, from the First World War, to the Great Depression, to World War II, had momentous impact on our lives,” Simmons says. She adds, “the era is a period we can still almost touch with our fingertips,” as she demonstrated successfully in her writing. Her latest work, No Average Day will be released in October 2024, bringing new stories to light.
Simmons has also written for literary journals and online and print magazines and newspapers and is active in her local writing community
Simmons has also written for literary journals and online and print magazines and newspapers and is active in her local writing community
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 4, 2024
Rona Simmons has done it again. She kept me turning the pages. You’re going to want to turn your head. You may want to quit reading when you realize the men you grow to love end up dying. But don’t. These men and women deserve to have their stories heard. Simmons does a remarkable job of telling their stories—all twenty-six hundred of them who lost their lives on October 24, 1944, and the many who survived to tell of the horrors of war. How she completed the research necessary to bring this book to fruition is beyond me. It’s a masterpiece. What a tribute to those unsung heroes who served to protect our freedom.Hang in there to the end, where she lists the names of every American who died on that fateful day 80 years ago. A must read for all who are grateful for their freedom.
January 19, 2026
A profoundly moving tribute to the forgotten day of World War II
No Average Day is one of the most powerful and sobering World War II books I have ever read. By focusing on October 24, 1944, a day most Americans have never heard of, the author restores dignity and memory to thousands of lives lost outside the spotlight of history’s most famous battles. The hour-by-hour structure is masterful, giving the day an almost unbearable tension as one tragedy unfolds after another. What struck me most was the humanity in the storytelling: these are not abstract casualties, but real men with cold hands, unfinished letters, and final moments that feel heartbreakingly close. This book does more than inform, it honors.
No Average Day is one of the most powerful and sobering World War II books I have ever read. By focusing on October 24, 1944, a day most Americans have never heard of, the author restores dignity and memory to thousands of lives lost outside the spotlight of history’s most famous battles. The hour-by-hour structure is masterful, giving the day an almost unbearable tension as one tragedy unfolds after another. What struck me most was the humanity in the storytelling: these are not abstract casualties, but real men with cold hands, unfinished letters, and final moments that feel heartbreakingly close. This book does more than inform, it honors.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews