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Saipan: The War Diary of John Ciardi
Ciardi records his days and nights as a gunner on a B-29 in the South Pacific during four of the last terrible months of World War II.
131 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1988
39 people want to read
About the author
John Ciardi
150 books31 followersJohn Anthony Ciardi was an American poet, translator, editor, writer and etymologist.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 11, 2017
For those of us who may never experience war as a first person, kill or be killed experience, it is vital that we understand what it means to send people into war. John Ciardi never doubts that the Japan of World War II was a rightful target for his B-29 Bombers. His diary is not about the moral issues of being sent to fight, but rather it is about the daily events, boredom and the arbitrary nature of Army life contrasting with the high stress arbitrary survival of combat missions
He takes pride in maintaining his machine guns. He cares deeply that his participation in the functioning of his bomber represents his pride. At the same time he was older and more widely experienced than others in his barracks. He had not only finished college, but taught there. He was a published and even an award winning poet.
It is the mix of warrior, poet mature thinking man and diarist that makes this short collection of his Saipan diaries a worthwhile read. His diary reads as an internal dialogue. He may have had some intention of this being a published document. But the fact that it was not published during his life lends me to believe otherwise. The great strength of this book is that Ciardi was a mature, thinking professional writer, but was not writing for an audience. We get a honest well written account of war time and the cumulative weight of these events.
John Ciardi would be best known as a poet. I knew him from his occasional radio "fillers" called Good Words. In a few minutes he discussed the etymologies of common and not so common words. What came through the radio was a kind, thinking man with broad interests and much to share. I encourage you to enjoy and learn for this diary and from other books he left for us.
He takes pride in maintaining his machine guns. He cares deeply that his participation in the functioning of his bomber represents his pride. At the same time he was older and more widely experienced than others in his barracks. He had not only finished college, but taught there. He was a published and even an award winning poet.
It is the mix of warrior, poet mature thinking man and diarist that makes this short collection of his Saipan diaries a worthwhile read. His diary reads as an internal dialogue. He may have had some intention of this being a published document. But the fact that it was not published during his life lends me to believe otherwise. The great strength of this book is that Ciardi was a mature, thinking professional writer, but was not writing for an audience. We get a honest well written account of war time and the cumulative weight of these events.
John Ciardi would be best known as a poet. I knew him from his occasional radio "fillers" called Good Words. In a few minutes he discussed the etymologies of common and not so common words. What came through the radio was a kind, thinking man with broad interests and much to share. I encourage you to enjoy and learn for this diary and from other books he left for us.
Displaying 1 of 1 review