I’m sure this has been covered but my search didn’t turn up anything. I recently finished D Day and Citizen Soldiers (both of which I really enjoyed). Can someone recommend a book along the same lines regarding the war in the Pacific?

I have been trying to find out more about my grandfather’s service, but so far all I know is that he was in the battle of Luzon. I believe at least at some point he was with the 8th Cavalry. Although I’m looking for any good books on this subject it would be nice if I could find something on Luzon or the 8th Cavalry in early 1945.

Thanks for any suggestions.


[This message has been edited by BQ93 (edited 8/19/2008 9:17p).]

It's not about Luzon, or the Army, but With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge is excellent. It covers the author's experiences on Peliliu (sp?) and Okinawa.

I second With the Old Breed. Be aware, though, that Sledge doesn't pull any punches.

James Bradley wrote two great books about the Pacifc theatre: Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys. The first covers the life of the men seen in the famous picture of the flag being erected on Iwo Jima. The second covers naval aviation, and how Americans and Japanese both treated their enemy. Highly suggest both, but I would put Flags of Our Fathers first.

Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead" while fiction is a pretty good read as well.

James Hornfischer's books are good - I recommend Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ghost Ship.

[This message has been edited by MustangOrange (edited 8/20/2008 3:02p).]

Another vote for With the Old Breed

I was always partial to Guadalcanal Diary.

Are you looking for something academic or mainstream or does it not matter. I just finished my MA in American Military History and my thesis was on a Pacific War topic so I have a pretty varied bibliography. The problem is that some of the books in it would definitely not be comparable to D-Day or Flags of our Fathers; however, you are more likely to find material specifically about the 8th Cav and Western Pacific.

Most units have veterans who have written memoirs or published diaries and journals, they're just not widely popular or still in print. I used a lot of this kind of source material for my thesis. You can also find unit histories published by the Army's historical branch, which can be ordered by the public. The best general source would be the Army "Green Book" series, which is the official history of the Army in World War II. That, I know, Evans Library has.

Let me know exactly what you want and I can give you some titles or some tips for searching for specific stuff on individual units.

-Ben Class of '01

Thanks for all the input. I have updated my list.

Ben it really doesn’t matter I love to read so even if it is dry I’ll plow through it. My grandfather was a little young so he entered the war very late as a replacement. I’d just like to get an idea about what he went through (as much as I can from reading)in the 8th Cav, G Troop ( I think).

If you don’t mind where did you get your degree and what are your plans for using it?

Second the recommendation for Hornfischers books. Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is about the destroyer escorts that turned back the Japanese battleship taskforce attacking the jeep carriers defending the Leyte Gulf landings. Ghostship is about the USS Houston and its crew. After it was sunk off Java in 1942 they were forced to build the Burma railroad by the Japanese.

The books are good reads and focus on the people involved, not just what happened.

Know him personally and he is a great guy. He really cares about the people and the material he writes about.

I'm sorry Stephen Ambrose never got around to writing about the War in the Pacific...........

I graduated from A&M with a dual major in History/English in 2002. I studied mostly under Brian Linn and Joseph Dawson (III) there. I just finished up at UNT this May under Adrian Lewis: see "Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory," and "The American Culture of War." I have one journal article out myself in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly on anti-German sentiment in World War I in Cooke County, Texas.


My thesis was a test case of extermination warfare theories proposed by John Dower ( "War Without Mercy" ) and Craig Cameron ( "American Samurai" ). I examined the conduct of the Second Marine Division during the invasion of Saipan in June and July of 1944. It was a very interesting/fun topic. It took me to the Marine Corps Archives at Quantico, archives at the Naval Yards in Washington, D.C., and the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.

I had to get student loans to be able to get my MA so right now I'm looking for a "real" job. At the moment I'm working on a federally funded project called IOGENE, which is aimed to help make the Portal to Texas History (UNT Digital Projects Lab) more accessible for genealogists.

It's pretty frustrating because I started looking last December (thought I was getting a leg up) and haven't even gotten an interview yet. I've been looking for federal jobs or historian jobs with the military. I've even resorted to applying for some sales jobs to no avail. Hopefully, something will come along.

Anyway, back to your father. I have done a lot of work with the UNT Oral History Program as an interviewer and transcriber. Most of the interviews I have done have been with Army Air Force guys--B-29 and B-25 pilots mostly. I checked our catalog and we don't have any oral histories of 8th cav guys but there are a lot of 112th cav guys. Oral histories in general are another great source for first hand accounts, and information. Baylor has a great oral history program and might have some WWII transcripts dealing with your father's unit. Rutgers also has a great oral history program and many oral history transcripts of WWII vets.

Check out the official 8th Cav. page here:

http://www.first-team.us/journals/8th_rgmt/8thndx02.html

This site gives you a great overview of the 8th's service during World War II. It may also allow you to contact some veterans if you are so inclined. Also check out their bibliography on the home page. A lot of the unit histories, etc. that I was talking about are referenced there specifically for the 8th. Here's the official 8th Cav. page:

http://www.8cavalry.org/

Here are the "official" Army histories that you might want to reference:

VICTORY IN PAPUA. By Samuel Milner. (1957, 1989; 409 pages, 23 maps, 69 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-4.)

THE APPROACH TO THE PHILIPPINES. By Robert Ross Smith. (1953, 1984; 623 pages, 2 tables, 14 charts, 34 maps, 51 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-8.)

LEYTE: THE RETURN TO THE PHILIPPINES. By M. Hamlin Cannon. (1954, 1987; 420 pages, 5 tables, 3 charts, 23 maps, 70 illustrations, 2 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 5-9.)

TRIUMPH IN THE PHILIPPINES. By Robert Ross Smith. (1963, 1984, 1991; 756 pages, 9 tables, 45 maps, 87 illustrations, 8 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-10.)

Finally here's a link to the 1st Cavalry Division's homepage (of which the 8th Regiment was a part) and it has some excellent sources that you might want to check out:

http://www.1cda.org/

see what happens when you get a historian going :P. I hope that helps and gives you some of the more "specific" information you're looking for.



-Ben Class of '01

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[This message has been edited by AgClassof01 (edited 8/21/2008 7:43p).]

Ben, I might needing to contact you for some inside info this semester. We are reading Linn for my American Ways of War class. Some inside insight into the book would be greatly appreciated.

Three of my favs other than the ones already mentioned are

1. Ghost Soliders by Hampton Sides ( about the Battan death march survivors ,and their rescue its an incredible read )

2. In Harms Way, the story of the USS Indianapolis ( its sinking and the horrible days they spent at sea )

3.Chesty , the story of one of the Marine Corps most decorated generals in the War in the Pacific

These are books I just couldn't put down ...They read like a novel ...Enjoy

I have heard mixed reviews of FLYBOYS

[This message has been edited by Ol Waco Ag (edited 8/21/2008 5:34p).]

Bill Sloan's written 3 outstanding books on Pacific battles

Given Up For Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island

Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 - The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War

The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945 - The Last Epic Struggle of WW2

The Battle for Japan, Retribution by Max Hastings. My dad is quite a WWII historian and veteran and is reading it now. He says it's very good.

well worth finding to read or buying a copy and adding it to your library

Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die by Keith Wells

and it has an Aggie connection

Wells, now a retired oil man here in Abilene was a student at A&M in the "Horse Cavalry." He joined up shortly after Pearl Harbor. As a young lieutenant, it was his men that raised the flag at Iwo. He'd been wounded earlier in the day or the day before if I remember. He crawled on his hands and knees by himself from the battle line back to aid station, because "others needed the help and attention more than he did." Later returning to his men after "escaping" from the hospital ship.

A great story from a first person point of view.

We had him come speak to our A&M club here on the 50th anniversary. He started telling his story at about 12:20 or so - the meetings are usually over at 1:00, at 1:45 nobody had left. We finally stopped him and asked him to come back the next month and finish the story (at that point after an hour and a half, he was just getting to the part where the boats were about to hit the beach) A fantastic privilege to have met the man and hear his story.

and that is the Navy Cross on his chest (obviously, thats him on the right)


several biographies of the flag team from a painting done of the first flag raising

KEITH WELLS

John Keith Wells enlisted in the Marines in March 1942. He graduated from Marine Officer's School in April 1943 and Marine Parachute Training School in August 1943. Following deployment on Guadalcanal with the First Marine Regiment in December 1943 he was assigned to the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendelton. In August 1944 he took command of the 3rd Platoon, Easy Company, 28th Marines, inspiring them with the worlds, "give me fifty men not afraid to die and I can take any position!" His words would prove prophetic when he led the charge against the formidable defenses at the base of Mount Suribachi on February 21, 1945. Twice wounded in that attack, Lt. Wells earned the Navy Cross. His citation would state, "by his leadership and indomitable fighting spirit, 1st Lt Wells contributed materially to the destruction of at least twenty-five Japanese emplacements . . .."

Evacuated from the battlefield, he would later escape his hospital ship to rejoin his unit on the crest of Suribachi following the flag raising. Wells commanded the 3rd platoon until it was ordered to the northern part of island. Despite his requests, LTC Chandler Johnson refused to let Wells go with his men and he again turned command of the 3rd platoon over to Sgt. Ernest "Boots" Thomas, who was killed several days later.

It was Wells, a fellow paratrooper, whom Ira Hayes requested a meeting with to seek advice when the Marine Corps requested that he return to the states for the war bond tour. Wells recalled in his memoir Iwo Jima, Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die, "With the invasion of Japan, [The Big Show] looming I felt this would be the last chance he would have to see his parents and his beloved reservation."

Wells is still celebrated in the Marine Corps as the leader of what is believed to be the "most decorated platoon to fight in a single engagement in the history of the Marine Corps." He retired from the Marine Corps Reserves in 1959 with the rank of Major.

In the 1949 Academy Award Winning movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, John Wayne's character, Sergeant Stryker, was an amalgamation of the 3rd platoon's Sgt. Ernest "Boots" Thomas and Wells. In Clint Eastwood's recent movie, Flags of Our Fathers, Wells' was depicted as a fictional "Lt. Bell."

[This message has been edited by TheSheik (edited 8/23/2008 6:06p).]

Got my degree from A&M in 1985 in History. Loved it then, and still love it now...
I have three books that I recommend.
1) American Caesar, by William Manchester
It's a bio of MacArthur with HEAVY emphasis on the War in the Pacific.
2) Nimitz, by the US Naval Press
It's Admiral Nimitz' official biography. It is absolutely readable and sheds great light on a man who gets over-shadowed by the MacArthur narrative.
3) Marine! the biography of Chesty Puller.
This book is fantastic!!!

Though all three of these overlap into other periods, all three HEAVILY weight the Pacific Theater. All three are great reads, easy reads, and I found to be consistent without any axes being ground.

Hope this helps.

The Limey

Don't pass on reading Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, regarding the Doolittle Raid. I believe Ted Lawson is the author (he was one of the raiders). It's not a comprehensive Pac War book by any means, but a gripping personal account of how they made their way through China once they crash landed.

Thanks to Apache for the sticky thread on History books.

I have to add this one for the Pacific WWII Secion.

Clay Blairs "Silent Victory" is an excellent accounting of US Sub Operations in the war against Japan.

Flags of our Fathers was an OK read.


I had trouble with Flyboys (the writing, not the text). He simply can't think of another synonym for "flyboy" and proceeds to use the word 2-3 times per page for the entire book. He did pretty much the same thing on his promotional tour about it at A&M.

Drove me nuts!

I know it's not really what the OP is asking for, but if anyone enjoys a decent historical fiction, Battle Cry by Leon Uris was pretty good and deals with the Pacific campaign.

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I am finishing "With the Old Breed" (and highly recommend it) and have "The Ghosts of Iwo Jima" by Robert Burrell on deck. Anyone read it? It is published by Texas A&M University Press.

Dr. Linn had us read Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald H. Spector. Very good one volume book about the Pacific War, and it challenges some of the conventional wisdom about American strategy, esp. the division of the Pacific btw MacArthur and Nimitz, and how that we lucked out on several occasions in spite of that.

I concur with "Old Breed" and "American Caesar."

The same guy who wrote "American Caesar", William Manchester, was a young Marine in the Pacific and wrote an excellent memoir about it, "Goodbye, Darkness." I highly recommend it.

I will second that "Ghost Soldiers" is a fantastic read.

Agclassof01, I've been to Saipan, I'd like to read your thesis of the 2d MARDIV and discuss some of the issues. How can I contact you?

I am Fullerton State '76, and I majored in Modern Japanese History (that's another story for another day). I did a tremendous amount of work on December 7th from both sides. My mom's father was at Pearl Harbor (civilian employee) during the attack. My mom and her mother were walking out the door to go to church at 7:55 when the first torpedo hit the water. My mom says she watched everything start from the porch of her house in Pearl City. My dad was surfing at Waikiki when the first Japanese squadrons rounded Diamond Head and headed straight for Pearl (my parents didnt know each other at that time).

(1). "American Caesar" is a hell of a book.
(2). "The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire" by John Toland is full of accurate details.
(3). "Line of Departure: Tarawa" by Martin Russ is a good quick read.
(4). "A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy- 1939/1945" by Paul S. Dull. This is a fascinating read if you are interested in vessel capacity regarding weaponry, speed, armor, etc. There is some good stuff in this book.

For all reality, the Japanese Navy started to lose it's punch and strength and with that loss the Pacific War, within 5-6 months after Pearl Harbor. That was a hell of a turnaround in a short time for American industrial might.