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Title: Into the Rising Sun: In Their Own Words, World War II's Pacific Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat by Patrick K. O'Donnell ISBN: 0-7432-1480-3 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.93 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A MAGNIFICANT EPIC ACCOUNT OF THE PACIFIC - BEYOND FIVE STAR
Comment: Into the Rising Sun is simply the finest oral and narrative history on the Pacific War. After reading this book I felt like back in time with these heroic soldiers and Marines. This book takes you to the sharp end of the combat, placing the reading in foxholes, trudging through jungle swamps, or facing the full-weight of Japanese banzai attack. Each story is seamlessly integrated into a narrative and a part of a larger whole that covers all of the major campaigns of the Pacific and Burma.
The stories hit you like a sledgehammer. Robert Moore describes America's first contested assault landing on the tiny island of Gavutu a few miles off Guadalcanal.
"Over 30 dead. Many were shot in the head. Brains were all over the place. I'll never forget this."
After being discharged for his wounds on Guadalcanal Moore reenlist in the Merchant Marines and ironically gets dropped off at Iwo Jima months after the battle only to find almost his entire platoon buried in the cemetery.
Harry Clark who describes his condition after trudging through New Georgia's jungle swamps for over a month. "I had dozens of ulcers on each leg and they went right down to the bone. Our medic used o keep us going by putting cotton on a pencil and putting it down and taking the puss out. We were all ill from every illness you could get from the jungle. I weighted ninety-seven pounds."
One of the Marines describes an all night assault by the Japanese on their positions on Guam's Hill 40.
"They pulled on all-night assault. They hit our positions hard and had visible targets for an hour. We could see them moving forward; their helmets would throw a shadow on their faces." ....the next day there were hundreds of bodies lying out in front of us. You feel guilty killing guys that were wounded. I cut a guy's throat with a my knife. That hurts. [Chocks up] I've never really talked about this to anyone."
Merrill's Marauder veteran Ed McLogan describes Sgt. Roy Matsumoto's amazing exploits that saved the battalion: "We vacated and booby trapped our foxholes after the after Roy crawled behind their lines and found out were and when they were going to attack." Matsumoto went back behind Japanese lines, again, the next morning. "He ordered them to Charge! Charge! In Japanese, and we mowed them down."
11th Airborne Division, Medic Bernard Coon describes the heartache of a man dying in his arms. "Our medic got shot through both femurs and was heavily bleeding. We had no instruments - we last them on the jump - we couldn't do anything for him. He turned to me and asked, "Are am I going to die?" and I said yes, you are." We started talking about baseball and slowly he bled to death. I had to go through his pockets and pull out pictures of his family."
A Marine describes the opening assault on the beaches Iwo Jima's Beaches:
"I was only twenty years old and my birthday was on the twenty-eighth. I thought to myself, "God am I ever going to make twenty-one?" The ramp went down, and honest to God the, bullets came in. Many of the men were machine gunned to death. I was pulling bodies of my men aside as I tried to make my way out."
This book is a watershed in the reporting of battlefield accounts. Anyone interested in World War II, the heroism of American fighting men, or both, will surely want to read this splendid tome. THIS BOOK IS BEYOND FIVE STARS!!
Rating: 5
Summary: Better than Beyond Valor?
Comment: Pat O'Donnell's new book, "Into the Rising Sun", is a serious piece of historical research, but extremely "readable", interesting, and maybe even addicting. He has done a great service to our nation and to the heroes he has dedicated his life to honoring, our WWII veterans. In some ways, this book exceeds the fine job he did in his first book, "Beyond Valor", in the sometimes gruesome, sometimes funny, and always incredible stories of heroism and valor shown by our soldiers and Marines and their personal battles during WWII in the Pacific and CBI theaters. The stories of Japanese cannibalism shocked me, and descriptions of other horrors, and sacrifices, suffered on both sides moved me emotionally. No wonder my father's generation never wanted to talk about their experiences! The descriptions of the battles, as told by the veterans themselves, are exceptional, and confusing, and emotionally draining, and so realistic. Where these men went, and what they went through, no one should have to experience. Pat has done another great job with this book, and I don't know if I can wait another year for his third book. At least I hope there is a third.
Rating: 4
Summary: Stories about the Pacific War.
Comment: A fairly interesting book. O'Donnell lists the campaigns of the elite troops of this theater of command, details the plan of battle, and then gives the oral histories of those who served in those campaigns. Most of the veterans are at the end of their lives, so these oral histories present a heartfelt tribute to the difficulties these soldiers endured during combat. What surprised me most was how these soldiers/veterans got choked up recounting the battles they went through, and the friends they lost. Freedom isn't cheap, and these soldiers are living proof of how America was affected by the battle.
This is a good read. Oral histories are good at describing the personal experiences of soldiers, but they don't put perspective on the actual battle campaigns. If one wants to know more about the War in the Pacific, one needs to read a general history, before reading this book.
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Title: Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat by Patrick O'Donnell ISBN: 0684873850 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of World War Ii's Oss by Patrick K. O'Donnell ISBN: 074323572X Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: Utmost Savagery: The 3 Days of Tarawa by Joseph H. Alexander ISBN: 0804115591 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester ISBN: 0316501115 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge ISBN: 0195067142 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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