http://www.marineswwii.com/
Just finished this book. My better half got it for me a few weeks ago. I started it before going overseas and just finished it when I got back.
For those who have seen HBO's "The Pacific", Chuck Tatum was one of the recruits who John Basilone trained as a machine gunner in the last episodes and who went to Iwo with him and the 5th Marines. His memoir is regarded as one of the best ever written.
Pretty sobering book.
The deprivations of the Marines on Iwo (and Tarawa, and Guadalcanal, and Betio, and Pelileu...) is just unthinkable. Not that Khe-Sahn, or Fallujah or Kafjhi or Chosin were any better. But the intensity of the month-long battle was unreal.
Tatum also talks a lot about the corpsmen, who were some pretty amazing heroes. And about the death of Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone. Gruesome fight.
For those who like history, this book is utterly worth reading.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Just finished this book. My better half got it for me a few weeks ago. I started it before going overseas and just finished it when I got back.
For those who have seen HBO's "The Pacific", Chuck Tatum was one of the recruits who John Basilone trained as a machine gunner in the last episodes and who went to Iwo with him and the 5th Marines. His memoir is regarded as one of the best ever written.
Pretty sobering book.
The deprivations of the Marines on Iwo (and Tarawa, and Guadalcanal, and Betio, and Pelileu...) is just unthinkable. Not that Khe-Sahn, or Fallujah or Kafjhi or Chosin were any better. But the intensity of the month-long battle was unreal.
Tatum also talks a lot about the corpsmen, who were some pretty amazing heroes. And about the death of Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone. Gruesome fight.
For those who like history, this book is utterly worth reading.
Cheers,
Sirhr
