40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles

by Joseph Tachovsky, Cynthia Kraack, Qarie Marshall (Narrator)

Before there were Navy SEALs, before there were Green Berets, there were the 40 Thieves: the elite Scout Sniper Platoon of the Sixth Marine Regiment during World War II. 

Behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan—where firing a gun could mean instant discovery and death—the 40 Thieves killed in silence during the grueling battle for Saipan, the "D-Day" of the Pacific.

Now Joseph Tachovsky—whose father Frank was the commanding officer of the 40 Thieves, also called "Tachovsky's Terrors"—joins with award-winning author Cynthia Kraack to transport readers back to the brutal Battle of Saipan. Built on hours of personal interviews with WWII veterans, their personal papers, letters and documentation from the National Archives, '40 THIEVES ON SAIPAN' is an astonishing portrayal of elite World War II combat. It's also a rare glimpse into the lives of World War II Marines. The poorest equipped branch of the services at that time, Marines were notorious thieves. To improve their odds for victory against the Japanese, they found it necessary to improve their supply chains through “Marine Methods,” stealing. Being the elite of the Sixth Regiment, the Scout-Sniper Platoon excelled at the craft—earning them the nickname of the “40 Thieves” from their envious peers. Upon returning from a 1943 trip to the Pacific theater, Eleanor Roosevelt observed, “The Marines I have met around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marines.”




RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 44mins.

©2020 Joseph Tachovsky (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, World War II, Military History, Historical

Audible Audio

First published June 2, 2020

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book about this small Marine unit based on the British Commandos that was formed on the orders of Col. James Riseley, commander of the 6th Marine Regiment. The goal of this unit was for reconnaissance behind Japanese lines during the invasion of Saipan, the first Japanese home territories to be invaded. Formed by Lt. Frank Tachovsky, he set out to collect a wild bunch of 40 US Marines with combat experience and who had spent some time in the brig, and set them up training in Hawaii, where they learned to live of the land and the dark arts of hand-to-hand combat, and all the shenanigans they got up to during their time on Hawaii, which is very entertaining.

The combat they faced on Saipan was new to them, but their training pulled them through.They were always at the forefront and given the toughest missions and suffered the inevitable losses of some really good and brave men. Some of the unit faced the largest banzai charge of the Japanese during the war, and it raises the hair on the back of your neck reading what these men went through.

This is a good read about an elite unit of World War 2 of which there are no other literature I know of, but the book contains a bit too much dialogue throughout, which makes it seem like reading a novel at time instead of military history. Still highly recommended.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads with the lyricism of a novel, as dark as the subject is.

[Paul Kraack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The scenes and descriptions are vivid enough to make your heart race; the emotions and courage are palpable in the men and women at the center of 40 Thieves on Saipan. And this is especially true after you have lived among them, endured their selection and training regimens and sensed their apprehension, fatalism and bravery as their days as “thieves” on Saipan draw near. This is a book drawn from a stark, embattled history with the story arc and dramatic turns of a fictional tale of enormous import. This is the story of the origins, travails and adventures of Marines specially chosen to engage an enemy on its own ground and wreak havoc in any way they can so that US troops can gain and hold ground a few feet at a time on an island known to the Japanese as “the Emperor’s Treasure.”
Authors Joseph Tachovsky (son of Marine Lt. Frank Tachovsky, commander of the 40 Thieves unit) and Cynthia Kraack (Award-winning author of seven previous works of fiction) must have undertaken this literary effort faced with the daunting task knowing that not everyone critical to the story would want to talk about it. Knowing that some pieces were missing or compromised by time; realizing that piecing the stories into a readable text, both apocryphal and true, would be a formidable task. But penning the story of this group of young men whose efforts would provide the basis for United States’ victory over Japan in World War II, was so significant and powerful it demanded telling. So 40 Thieves on Saipan is history; it is also personal and vivid stories of young men who knew at the outset they might be doomed by their mission. And they went anyway.
40 Thieves begins on the enforested, humid and mosquito-swarmed island of Saipan, where a tired Marine realizes too late that his team is surrounded by an enemy whose uncanny ability to lie in wait patiently was almost impossible to imagine. After this tense and heart-pounding opening, you are taken back to the origins of the elite Marine Scout-Sniper unit; where a rigorous recruitment and training process offered rogues, rule-breakers and ruffian types an opportunity to flourish in the Marine ethos. Readers endure the arduous physical preparation the 40 Thieves used to ready themselves for a secret and dangerous mission. They are privy to the doubts, machismo and emotions of men whose lives were about to be changed forever or lost on a spit of rock in the Pacific Ocean. The story is accompanied by original source documents and photos of the 40 Thieves, along with letters and stories from the men and from their loved ones back home. One of the most intriguing things about this time was that while these Marines were engaged in intense battles as a team fully committed to each other and their mission, their wives, girlfriends and families back home formed a similar bond, supporting and caring for each other against the ache of loneliness and potential loss. Their letters back and forth are revealing while also being guarded against revealing too much.
40 Thieves on Saipan is indeed a story of the bloodiest of battles in the War in the Pacific. It is also a look at this time in history and at this unique idea of how to wage a war against an enemy often unseen and infinitely committed to holding ground by scorched earth destruction regardless of the cost in human life. The engagements, skirmishes and adventures of the 40 Thieves are detailed with careful detail, with the knowing sense that the men in this unique unit were both apprehensive, yet eager to engage, destroy and defeat the enemy far from home.
This story ends as war-hardened Marines witness in horror mass suicides and mass murder by the enemy of its’ allies and the indigenous peoples of Saipan rather than surrender, even as the Marines ultimately conquer the island from Japan. And you understand why most of the 40 Thieves that survived spent the rest of their lives trying to forget or drown these images, committed to never reliving their nightmares. The research, the grudging conversations and the difficulty of dredging through a history this personal is hard to imagine. Making it so interesting, so intensely accurate and unflinching in its revelations is even more remarkable. Histories this specific are where we learn the true impacts and harsh realities of war. Tachovsky and Kraack have earned the accolades they will receive from readers of 40 Thieves on Saipan.

[happy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of the Scout/Sniper Platoon of the 6th Marine Rgmt during the battle of Saipan.

After Tarawa, the Marines decided to deactivate their "Raider Battalions" and replace them with a Scout/Sniper Platoon in each Regiment. This is the Story of the 6th Marines Scout/Sniper Platoon.

I'll admit I was predisposed to like this. Ever since I read Leon Uris's Battle Cry - a slightly fictionalized account of 2/6 Marines' WWII, as a teenager, I have been fascinated by the story of the 6th Marines.

This book covers the platoon/rgmt's history from it's return from Tarawa to the Big Island of Hawaii in Jan '44 through the 3 weeks of hell that was Saipan. Included in the narrative is the recruitment of the members of the platoon, the type of training the men underwent in Hawaii, how they got the nickname 40 thieves, basically they stole anything that wasn't nailed down and guarded - including jeep, numerous cases of "Spirits", live stock, and last but not least a couple of Army Privates - who deployed with them to Saipan and finally their actual deployment on Saipan.

There are some pretty gruesome encounters recounted including an incident that can only be categorized as a war crime committed by the members of the Platoon, When on patrol, they capture a couple of Japanese and send them back to to be interrogated. The patrol is subsequently ambushed and the Squad leader killed. When the patrol returns to Marine lines, they find the prisoners that they had taken and shoot both of them in the head. This happens while the prisoners are actively being interrogated by Army Intel. The patrol members believe that the prisoners deliberately led them into the ambush. The Plt Ldr defends his men and nothing happens to them

The authors were on CSPAN's BookTV recently (that is were I heard about it). I thought it was a solid 4 star read

https://www.c-span.org/video/?509305-...

[Medusa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five stars to the men who served. Three for a narrative that has a lot of fat and self indulgence mixed with the muscle. I’m not saying these men don’t deserve some self indulgence, but i agree with the author that this would have been better as an oral history project. Too much time spent on peacetime ‘shenanigans’ that were honestly kind of annoying and cliched. Side note - either the editing was poor or these old marines spun another tall tale when they claimed their scoped Springfields were capable of one inch accuracy at 1000 yards - an astounding, and impossible, .10 MOA.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm very interested in the morbid reality of the battles on Saipan, but unfortunately, most of this book happens before these Marines even land on the island. If you want to know about the Marines themselves, I'm sure this book will be fine for you. Personally, I wanted to read first hand accounts of the battles themselves. This book does not deliver in that aspect, unfortunately.

While there are snippets of letters and accounts from the time, much of this book feels like historical fluff. I felt more like I was reading a novel rather than a historical account. I wish this book had sold itself as a novel based on historical fact rather than first hand accounts of those who endured the fighting here, I would not have purchased it if it were more honest about that.

In the end, it's about what flavor of history you like. I like the visceral, and this didn't hit the mark for me.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally caught up in this book and the marines whose lives it follows. The "40 Thieves" were an elite group of marine snipers whose mission was to help the U.S. military take control of the island of Saipan by going in behind enemy lines. Personal stories, letters and photos were collected in order to describe what these tough and brave men went through during their days leading up to their mission and throughout the battle. Very descriptive and intense. Highly recommend this book to those who like WWII history and memoirs.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a unit of Marines and their combat on Saipan. About half of the text is the formation and training of the Scout-Sniper unit and half combat. It was put together by the son of one of the participants from letters, diaries, and interviews with those men who survived to about 2011. It is well written and engaging.

Includes many photos and some maps to aid with following the action.

[Mike Miketinac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. A crazy group of courageous characters. They were all so brave but their experiences in the war really took a toll on them. Book was fairly well written, not great but the subject matter more than made up for it.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I thought this book was just ok. One of my pet peeves is a lot of conversations in history books because I just don’t buy into it. The subject was something I didn’t know anything about in several levels, like the marine snipers and Saipan battle so that interested me. I think the epilogue really cleared a lot up for me and if I had the physical book (listened on audio) I would have read that first and maybe felt different. The author is the commanders son, which I did figure out by google but the epilogue helped clear up some of the conversations by explaining that the author interviewed some key people in the conversations which gives credibility to me. Anyway, this was ok and worth a read but didn’t blow me away.

[Katie Haasch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book for a couple reasons. I’m a life long history student. The author is local to my area (15 miles from my city I work in). Finally, I had never heard of the Sniper Scouts in Saipan during World War II.

A family friend serviced in the South Pacific during World War II. He never talked much about other than he was in the service, he was in the navy, stationed in the South Pacific and would answer basic questions about his tattoo on his arm. I never pressed him for details but I could tell as a teen he didn’t want to talk about it.

When I read the 40 Thieves of Saipan it was hard for me to understand what those solidierst went through in battle. The narrative had humor, horror (loosing a friend), returning stateside and faced the challenge of being a civilian again. I plan on looking into more on the Sniper Scouts.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing that this story was almost never told! Well-written and put together. It’s raw and doesn’t sidestep any of the hard honest stuff, yet doesn’t have to overstate. Sometimes when I read books like this, I do so to try to understand my father, a Vietnam Marine. This made me appreciate even more the honest discussion of the very real consequences of training a Marine to kill and then expecting them to assimilate back into society. These troops keep often war acts secret, that are not accepted in normal company, and such has a very real fall out.

[kevin stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a movie, but these real men were true heroes.

A fantastic story! These men are immortalized in their struggle with the Japanese in some of the worst fighting in the pacific theater. The authors have captured their personal epic for future generations. These men were real. This reads like a movie, but these heroes existed! My thanks to the authors for telling the tale, and to the 40 Thieves, who gave all they had for family and Country.

[Howard Daves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was well written. It was a story I had not been aware of and I read considerably on this subject. I thought the inclusion of the family letters was a really nice touch. I enjoyed this book and if you are a fan of the war in the Pacific, history or the USMC in general, I recommend it.

[Wes Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful comprehensive story that sucks you into the characters lives and generates an attachment beyond just the history of the events. An emotion roller coaster that provides a sneak peak into how insane and how sacrificing these soldiers really were. A must read!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it. You won’t be sorry. If nothing else, you’ll gain more respect for veterans.

[Nathan Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Great insight into a specialized unit during WW2.

[Genevieve Ruesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely well-written and well-researched account that pays tribute to the bravery of the 40 Thieves; one of the most well-written nonfiction histories I have read

[Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably one of the last of its kind—blending first hand accounts with historical records to tell a narrative. Great read.

[R.E. Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not well written.

[Pamela Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully put together story of true events in the Pacific War. I am waiting for the movie!

[Jefferey T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful account

Wonderful account of the savagery, bravery, and comradeship of those of the greatest generation. I highly recommend this fine account

[Dom · Rating 3 out of 5]

• This book has just about every war story cliche you can think of. It’s quite self indulgent in that regard. It really did seem like the book was written in a way that it could be easily turned into the next Band of Brothers HBO miniseries, rather than an objective look at what actually happened.

• This is more of a book of war stories than a military history book. The commanding officer of the 40 Thieves was the father of one of the authors. The book is sourced from his records and letters as well as the surviving unit members’ war stories and recollections. I saw someone else say that this book would’ve been better as an oral history and I have to agree. I would’ve rather heard these veterans stories from them directly instead of filtered through the author’s prose.

• For at least 50% of the book. they are in Hawaii, forming the unit and training. They don’t even get to Saipan until you are more than halfway through. A lot of this book is dedicated to the antics these troops got into when they were not in combat: trying to get booze, attempting to flirt with women, writing letters, and training. Some of that stuff is interesting, some is very much not.

• One of the biggest letdowns for me in this book was the lack of discussion about tactics and strategy employed by the scout snipers. There are a few chapters where it is mentioned but I was really hoping for more “nuts and bolts” tactics talk.

• The book is obviously biased towards the 40 Thieves unit, and I have the upmost respect for all of the men that fought during the war. However, there are several incidents detailed in the book That looked at objectively do not show them in the best. Part of the reason they were “40 Thieves” it’s because they were constantly stealing things. The book treats this is something that’s cheeky or funny, which it is when they steal from a commanding officer or something like that. Much less so when they are stealing livestock from native Hawaiian farmers or stealing uniforms from their fellow soldiers. There is a scene in which a member of the 40 Thieves executes two unarmed Japanese prisoners WHILE THEY ARE BEING INTERROGATED BY MILITARY INTELLIGENCE. When the interrogators are understandably upset, the 40 Thieves threaten them. Ironic given that one of the main goals of the scout snipers was to gather intelligence.

• If you are familiar with the war in the Pacific, there’s not a whole lot to learn here outside of the stories of the men detailed in the book. Their stories are pretty riveting, but this is not a “nitty gritty” history book.

• There are some claims in this book that I am skeptical about. The book claims that the 1903 Springfield could hit a 1” target at 1,000 yards, which would be .1 MOA. The best modern precision rifles struggle to get .25 MOA. The book also claims that in training the soldiers rucked 20 miles through the Hawaiian jungle in 4 hours. I’m not claiming it’s impossible, but 20 miles through mountainous jungle terrain with a full combat load… I don’t know.. Another claim I was skeptical about was the idea that some soldier/ could smell the Japanese. I’ve heard the claim that the Japanese soldiers had a distinct odor, I’ve also seen claims that that is a myth. I’m not sure either way, but I find it hard to believe that American troops were sniffing out Japanese soldiers like bloodhounds while the stench of jungle and decomposing corpses was all around them.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about a scout-sniper platoon in the battle for Saipan during World War II. The book does a good job of connecting the people at war with the people on the home front so the reader gets a good sense of the pathos of war.

Some interesting anecdotes:

1. Two army soldiers are good friends with one of the guys in the platoon and end up hanging out with the scouts and training with them. They decide to sneak onto the ship and end up in the battle of Saipan fighting with the Marines! 😳 One of them is killed in the battle. The Marines eventually send the other guy back to the Army with a note explaining his absence. Crazy things can happen in war.

2. Six of the guys request (and receive) permission to go on a scout into the capital city so they can be the first there to “liberate” it. One of them raids a deserted bank and finds the vault open filled with yen. He stuffs his sack full of money assuming he will be wealthy, only to find out later that they are army yen and basically worthless.

3. All of the guys who survived struggled with PTSD for decades after the war.

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the account of the elite Marine Corp Scout-Sniper group that was assembled and trained primarily to operate behind enemy lines on Saipan in WWII. The book is an incredibly well researched and well written story of the selection, training and combat experience of this group of 40 men who, at great cost to themselves were highly successful in fighting and destroying the lost-cause massive Imperial Japanese Army who were the last bulwark of Imperial Japan during the last year of the Pacific War. This group, selected, trained and ably led by Lt. Frank Tachovsky (father of the primary author) performed beyond heroically under inhuman conditions against 30,000 fanatical Japanese troops. The book conveys the conditions and activities of these men clearly and simply in all aspects of what they went through from their assembly in 1943 to their deaths, well into the 21st Century in several cases. I found it a fascinating and very stirring account to read about a facet of the war with which I was relatively unfamiliar. I recommend it to anyone interested in the course of WWII and the men who fought.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book of an overlooked / unknown Marine Corps "special" unit that was the precursor to "Special Forces" (strictly an Army term), Navy Seals (notwithstanding UDT), and Force Recon Marines (notwithstanding the famous USMC Carlson's Raiders).

Nonfiction book that reads like a novel (author did a wonderful job with that as mentioned in acknowledgements).

The epilogue is emotionally engaging for someone who can at least somewhat relate to a combat vet's experience. This is mentioned in the last pages as the author discussed his research. The motivation of the author to research and write this book makes it particularly important - his father was the Commanding Officer of the Elite USMC Unit (elite among elite).

I will audiobook this again bc like I said - it reads like a fun war novel, though it was very real with real teenage boys (Marines).

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2020/0...

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this on my Libby reading app. I listen to it. I want to buy the book and have others read it now. I’ve been studying World War II for 14 years and this is the first time I’ve learned about the battle on Saipan Island. These guys are true heroes I feel so badly for those who died in their families I can’t imagine ever being the same after witnessing all that they did several different islands and fights. Breaks my heart. I don’t understand war and never will even after studying in years and years. I’m going to do some research and see if any of these guys are still alive today I’d like to meet them and shake their hands.

[Dave Wickenden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a magnificent story about the invasion of Saipan during the Battle of the Pacific. If follows a group of Marines who were specifically trained to kill silently as well as from long distance. They were members of the Scout/Sniper squad, which would use lessons learned to create the Navy Seals. The story is told with help from letters to home and the memories of those who were there.

The battle for Saipan was a brutal encounter against the best that Japan had to offer, who made the Marines pay for every single inch of ground with blood. It is a testament to the courage and resilience of men.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story about an all-volunteer Marine platoon's combat success in the invasion of Saipan. It follows this small group of snipers from the formation, recruitment and training of the group, onto the shores of Saipan and across the island until it was secured.

The book uses historical accounts from the Marines in this platoon, as recalled from letters, testimonials and their families. I particularly like learning about the actions and heroics of ordinary men and women, who put their lives on hold to help the war effort. In this regard, this book is just one of many to recount their stories and the cost of freedom in the Pacific in WWII.

[Luke Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest military books I have ever read. The authors compiled a little known history from the Pacific theater and made it a narrative. I couldn’t put it down. Not only was the story incredible the research process to compile the information was as well. The authors passion to bring this story to life can be felt in every page. Any military history buff will enjoy this book and if it’s not on the commandants reading list yet it should be.
Semper Fidelis.