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Cutthroats: The Adventures of a Sherman Tank Driver in the Pacific
Soon after we landed it became apparent that there was more than enough artillery here, that the enemy were excellent shots, and that their ammo supply seemed to be endless. With the Japanese deeply entrenched and determined to die rather than surrender, Robert Dick and his fellow soldiers quickly realized that theirs would be a war fought inch by bloody inch–and that their Sherman tanks would serve front and center. As driver, Dick had to maneuver his five-man crew in and out of dangerous and often deadly situations.Whether crawling up beaches, bogged down in the mud-soaked Leyte jungle, or exposed in the treacherous valleys of Okinawa, the Sherman was a favorite target. A land mine could blow off the tracks, leaving its crew marooned and helpless, and the nightmare of swarms of Japanese armed with satchel charges was all too real. But there was a war to be won, and Americans like Robert Dick did their jobs without fanfare, and without glory. This gripping account of tanker combat is a ringing testament to the awe-inspiring bravery of ordinary Americans.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 26, 2018
Robert Dick’s CUTTHROATS is another WW2 tank memoir, this one by a tanker who fought in the Pacific against Imperial Japan, specifically on the islands of Leyte and Okinawa.
With an excellent memory, Dick starts with the attack on Pearl Harbor and resulting training. His stories of Army life in the infantry on the home front are quite funny. Soon, he goes to Hawaii to train to become a tank driver, and then he’s shipped off to fight in the invasion of the Philippines in Tank 60, Company C, which the crew names CUTTHROATS.
On Leyte, the mud bogs down the 30-ton tanks, which struggle to support the infantry in chaotic jungle fighting. More often than not, the tanks served as indirect artillery. On Okinawa, the tanks took a stronger role, blasting enemy infantry out of caves and bunkers while suffering incredible losses from mines, suicidal soldiers with satchel charges, and very effective anti-tank guns. Dick’s tank is equipped with a flamethrower, which during its first attack against a cave ended up nearly setting fire to itself.
While John Irwin’s ANOTHER RIVER, ANOTHER TOWN is a very focused narrative about the savage town-to-town fighting in Germany at the end of WW2 from a tanker’s perspective, Dick’s account is more anecdotal and often action-packed, absurdly humorous, and tragic by turns. A wounded civilian woman with a baby, abandoned out of fear she was being used as bait for enemy fire, a tanker shattered because he couldn’t pull his wounded lieutenant through the escape hatch and had to leave him, harrowing misses by AT guns, souvenir shopping in enemy camps, a Japanese casualty collection hut filled with corpses–Dick’s account is filled with small stories that tell the big story of one man’s war and the war itself.
Overall, CUTTHROATS is an excellent memoir about the life of a tanker in the Pacific in WW2. Recommended for history buffs.
With an excellent memory, Dick starts with the attack on Pearl Harbor and resulting training. His stories of Army life in the infantry on the home front are quite funny. Soon, he goes to Hawaii to train to become a tank driver, and then he’s shipped off to fight in the invasion of the Philippines in Tank 60, Company C, which the crew names CUTTHROATS.
On Leyte, the mud bogs down the 30-ton tanks, which struggle to support the infantry in chaotic jungle fighting. More often than not, the tanks served as indirect artillery. On Okinawa, the tanks took a stronger role, blasting enemy infantry out of caves and bunkers while suffering incredible losses from mines, suicidal soldiers with satchel charges, and very effective anti-tank guns. Dick’s tank is equipped with a flamethrower, which during its first attack against a cave ended up nearly setting fire to itself.
While John Irwin’s ANOTHER RIVER, ANOTHER TOWN is a very focused narrative about the savage town-to-town fighting in Germany at the end of WW2 from a tanker’s perspective, Dick’s account is more anecdotal and often action-packed, absurdly humorous, and tragic by turns. A wounded civilian woman with a baby, abandoned out of fear she was being used as bait for enemy fire, a tanker shattered because he couldn’t pull his wounded lieutenant through the escape hatch and had to leave him, harrowing misses by AT guns, souvenir shopping in enemy camps, a Japanese casualty collection hut filled with corpses–Dick’s account is filled with small stories that tell the big story of one man’s war and the war itself.
Overall, CUTTHROATS is an excellent memoir about the life of a tanker in the Pacific in WW2. Recommended for history buffs.
June 4, 2017
Was blah. Did not finish.
November 16, 2021
A highly engaging read about a young man's experiences during fighting in the Pacific Theatre of WW2. The story begins, like most, with the author's background. Originally trained as an infantryman who's wary of Colonels then he becomes a tank driver with 763 Tank Battalion and takes part in the assault on Leyte and Okinawa. The story provides a lot of humourous episodes, and I'm sure at the time, they were not very funny at all. For instance, going out hunting for souvenirs and coming under fire. The author deals with the horror of war through humour though. He talks about the standard military "hurry up and wait", the bad food, the insane military administration (for example - upon discharge, being told he must hand in dogtags that he lost - but having to go to supply to get a new pair only to have to hand them in), the brutal heat and terror of being in combat. There's a good description of life of a tanker, of weaponry, of the trip across the Pacific and I must say it's all written as if you're having a nice conversation with Robert. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I recommend it to those who are interested in learning about the battles as seen by the common man.
April 13, 2018
Typical Army!
It is amazing that the author could remember things that happened in great detail after 60 Years! Enjoyed the way he presented a number things that happened! It was really good read.
It is amazing that the author could remember things that happened in great detail after 60 Years! Enjoyed the way he presented a number things that happened! It was really good read.
May 23, 2018
Good look inside the life of a tank crew
My grandfather was a tank commander in WW2 so I especially enjoyed a look into their lives during that time. It was a good read. He didn't go to deep into some of the horror he saw, which was ok by me. Thank you sir for your service.
My grandfather was a tank commander in WW2 so I especially enjoyed a look into their lives during that time. It was a good read. He didn't go to deep into some of the horror he saw, which was ok by me. Thank you sir for your service.
March 4, 2017
Fine airplane reading.
March 16, 2018
Excellent!
Really good telling of a mans experiences in a different theatre of the war. I read it from start to finish in a day because I didn’t want to put it down!
Really good telling of a mans experiences in a different theatre of the war. I read it from start to finish in a day because I didn’t want to put it down!
May 13, 2014
I listened to the audiobook read by Milton Bagby that's 8 hours and 38 minutes long. The last paragraph of this review focuses on that production specifically.
4 stars. A great, if a tad general/folksy, PTO tanker memoir and a great memoir portraying the overall military experience in the Pacific.
Robert Dick was a tank driver in the 763rd Tank Battalion during World War 2. He saw action on Leyte in 1944 and later on Okinawa in 1945 after an extensive experience in the US Army.
There is a lot on Dick's pre-combat experience in the infantry before he joins an armored unit and ships out to the Pacific. Several anecdotes commonly seen in memoirs from soldiers who were in the army before/just around the attack on Pearl Harbor (poorly organized into bizarre guard duties). Dick finds himself in charge of checkpoints at important spots on the West Coast and details several charming stories of soldier antics on this topic.
Eventually Dick joins the 763rd Tank Battalion and becomes a driver of an American Sherman tank (tank number 60 and in, IIRC, C Company, leading to the Cutthroats nickname coinage). He is extensive in describing his combat role and the functions and tech of the tanks and this is presented in an interesting way. Here Dick does a great job of describing the mechanics and other technical aspects of armored warfare that is easily digestible.
As a tank driver, Dick is more of a spectator when it comes to combat action. He's in several souvenirs hunts where he does explicitly describe firing his Thompson Sub-Machine gun in a skirmish with the Japanese on Leyte and this is described forthrightly, if not in a compelling manner akin to other PTO combat memoirs. However this is a small part of the overall combat experience Dick undergoes. Instead, Dick details the issues with driving a tank in the very different landscapes between Leyte (a jungle-thick mess of muddy roads) and Okinawa (a smorgasbord of Japanese-held hills and valleys) and though eye opening, it's not presented in such a raw or energetic manner.
Another reviewer itemizes this memoir to a sit down with Dick at a bar, hearing him relate his war experience over a couple of a beers. This is a perfect description of the books' flavor - Dick isn't coy on the details, nor is the language (though not at all frequent) sanitized. But the delivery is very laid back and features some good humor throughout. I read lots of war memoirs and rate them mostly based on the author's willingness to detail their own personal experience in combat and writing ability. Dick is willing to divulge his own contribution to the effort, though limited with respect to his combat as a tank driver, and his writing is very approachable.
I can see this book as a primary source to a tanker-version of THE PACIFIC, it touches on all the right topics in an armored combatants' experience. So because of this and all the other positive aspects of the memoir (with the drawbacks mentioned) I give this one a 4-star rating. This is a pretty good rating on my scale and this book is definitely one of the first ones I would mention when describing good all-around PTO memoirs.
Milton Bagby reads this account and does so with the exact delivery I'd imagine Dick was going for (sharing a few beers at the bar, remember). Bagby is an older narrator and narrates in a folksy and approachable manner. I usually think combat accounts should be read by younger narrators (or in a younger-style?) but this works very well with CUTTHROATS, so I have no complaints. I also listened to Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer-Ranger and Paratrooper by Jack Womer and Steve Devito, narrated by John Allen Nelson. For the longest time I was ready to write a review with the assumption that these two books shared a narrator, but after doubling checking, they don't! I still think that if you liked this narration then you'd like Nelson's, though.
4 stars. A great, if a tad general/folksy, PTO tanker memoir and a great memoir portraying the overall military experience in the Pacific.
Robert Dick was a tank driver in the 763rd Tank Battalion during World War 2. He saw action on Leyte in 1944 and later on Okinawa in 1945 after an extensive experience in the US Army.
There is a lot on Dick's pre-combat experience in the infantry before he joins an armored unit and ships out to the Pacific. Several anecdotes commonly seen in memoirs from soldiers who were in the army before/just around the attack on Pearl Harbor (poorly organized into bizarre guard duties). Dick finds himself in charge of checkpoints at important spots on the West Coast and details several charming stories of soldier antics on this topic.
Eventually Dick joins the 763rd Tank Battalion and becomes a driver of an American Sherman tank (tank number 60 and in, IIRC, C Company, leading to the Cutthroats nickname coinage). He is extensive in describing his combat role and the functions and tech of the tanks and this is presented in an interesting way. Here Dick does a great job of describing the mechanics and other technical aspects of armored warfare that is easily digestible.
As a tank driver, Dick is more of a spectator when it comes to combat action. He's in several souvenirs hunts where he does explicitly describe firing his Thompson Sub-Machine gun in a skirmish with the Japanese on Leyte and this is described forthrightly, if not in a compelling manner akin to other PTO combat memoirs. However this is a small part of the overall combat experience Dick undergoes. Instead, Dick details the issues with driving a tank in the very different landscapes between Leyte (a jungle-thick mess of muddy roads) and Okinawa (a smorgasbord of Japanese-held hills and valleys) and though eye opening, it's not presented in such a raw or energetic manner.
Another reviewer itemizes this memoir to a sit down with Dick at a bar, hearing him relate his war experience over a couple of a beers. This is a perfect description of the books' flavor - Dick isn't coy on the details, nor is the language (though not at all frequent) sanitized. But the delivery is very laid back and features some good humor throughout. I read lots of war memoirs and rate them mostly based on the author's willingness to detail their own personal experience in combat and writing ability. Dick is willing to divulge his own contribution to the effort, though limited with respect to his combat as a tank driver, and his writing is very approachable.
I can see this book as a primary source to a tanker-version of THE PACIFIC, it touches on all the right topics in an armored combatants' experience. So because of this and all the other positive aspects of the memoir (with the drawbacks mentioned) I give this one a 4-star rating. This is a pretty good rating on my scale and this book is definitely one of the first ones I would mention when describing good all-around PTO memoirs.
Milton Bagby reads this account and does so with the exact delivery I'd imagine Dick was going for (sharing a few beers at the bar, remember). Bagby is an older narrator and narrates in a folksy and approachable manner. I usually think combat accounts should be read by younger narrators (or in a younger-style?) but this works very well with CUTTHROATS, so I have no complaints. I also listened to Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer-Ranger and Paratrooper by Jack Womer and Steve Devito, narrated by John Allen Nelson. For the longest time I was ready to write a review with the assumption that these two books shared a narrator, but after doubling checking, they don't! I still think that if you liked this narration then you'd like Nelson's, though.
September 24, 2014
If you've ever had an uncle who served in war, who many years later decided to memorialize what happened there, you will likely enjoy this autobiographical book by a guy who served in the Army in the Pacific.. (and I thought all the Pacific theater stuff was done primarily by Marines and John Wayne.. hehe)
Dick's writing style is almost conversational. It is almost as if the reader is sitting in the author's living room having cake and coffee while the reader tells about his experiences.
There are moments of reality checks-- Dick is often brutally honest about his fears and the fact that if he could get out of combat he would do so. In fact, he took a break in rank in order to transfer into the tank corps from the infantry. Little did he realize that the tanks often dry artillery and heavy arms fire like flies to honey.
There are also moments where the author describes being bold and seeking adventure (prior to real combat experience) in the Philippines. This seems to be balanced by his way of finding places to hide when he was supposed to be working on what he considered to be nonsense work details.
Day to day army life is described quite well. He describes the putrid smell and taste of rations. He tells about digging a hole to park the tank over for the night. He describes the terrain that the tanks could barely traverse at times, the muddy roads, and the edginess of men in a combat zone, ready to shoot at anything.
Finally, Dick got me in the gut when he described his homecoming... WOW! The idea of military men returning home as civilians for the first time in their lives. Drinking in the difference in the military and civilian world. And then, that last moment, standing on the porch and seeing those he loved inside the house.
This was a fine book... Not the greatest military read ever, but very enjoyable. I'd love to sit down with the author one day and have coffee and hear more.
Dick's writing style is almost conversational. It is almost as if the reader is sitting in the author's living room having cake and coffee while the reader tells about his experiences.
There are moments of reality checks-- Dick is often brutally honest about his fears and the fact that if he could get out of combat he would do so. In fact, he took a break in rank in order to transfer into the tank corps from the infantry. Little did he realize that the tanks often dry artillery and heavy arms fire like flies to honey.
There are also moments where the author describes being bold and seeking adventure (prior to real combat experience) in the Philippines. This seems to be balanced by his way of finding places to hide when he was supposed to be working on what he considered to be nonsense work details.
Day to day army life is described quite well. He describes the putrid smell and taste of rations. He tells about digging a hole to park the tank over for the night. He describes the terrain that the tanks could barely traverse at times, the muddy roads, and the edginess of men in a combat zone, ready to shoot at anything.
Finally, Dick got me in the gut when he described his homecoming... WOW! The idea of military men returning home as civilians for the first time in their lives. Drinking in the difference in the military and civilian world. And then, that last moment, standing on the porch and seeing those he loved inside the house.
This was a fine book... Not the greatest military read ever, but very enjoyable. I'd love to sit down with the author one day and have coffee and hear more.
December 28, 2007
A jolly good read, my first reaction when looking at the cover was that it would be an exciting war novel. Then I saw the "he fought the war with everything he had" on the cover and I thought "oh great its a pulp war novel designed to make everyone really proud to be American." Then I saw that it was non fiction and this guy really did drive a tank for 4 years and it became interesting again. Nothing like the truth to make a good story. Then I read the book. While not the best written work it was engrossing, humorous and slightly disturbing. Only the last half of the book is devoted to the actual war the first half being his non-combat antics that seem to happen so frequently when you have a bunch of solders stationed somewhere where nothing happens. I would like to read more of Mr Dick's memoirs if they exist. If they don't I shall write him and ask him to write some I am sure he would be well chuffed.
July 27, 2012
A quite informative first-person account, both of the US Army right before the war and of the use of tanks in the Philippines and Okinawa. The writing isn't super polished, but also added some charm and made the narrative more personable. Worth the read for WWII buffs, but others may not find appealing.
May 14, 2009
I enjoy oral histories, and this one was pretty good. The author drove a Sherman Tank in the Pacific during WWII. I am quite content reading about his adventures as opposed to sharing them with him.
January 10, 2016
A Great Tanker Story
The author has a very pleasant writing style and does a great job of presenting the trials of a tanker in the Pacific theater in both a frank and, at times, humorous fashion. Definitely worth taking the time to read.
The author has a very pleasant writing style and does a great job of presenting the trials of a tanker in the Pacific theater in both a frank and, at times, humorous fashion. Definitely worth taking the time to read.
January 27, 2016
A remarkable story told in the most humble, matter-of-fact, self-deprecating manner possible. Robert C. Dick is a war hero, a knucklehead, a leader, a reader and a decent guy I've had the privilege of getting to know through his book Cutthroats.
February 5, 2012
Hardcover.
June 26, 2013
Written in a friendly, personal style, Cutthroats is a fun, quick read but is a little uneven at times. An interesting read to fill in some gaps in WWII Pacific history with personal touches.
February 13, 2014
I liked this book a lot. Mr. Dick was just a regular guy telling his story. He is a humble and humorous man. Thank you for your service to our country, Mr. Dick.
February 14, 2021
Good stuff
A very fast read. A view of the war not usually read about. I liked the good natured rivalry most GI’s experience
A very fast read. A view of the war not usually read about. I liked the good natured rivalry most GI’s experience
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews