War in the Pacific

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Stikpusher
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Re: War in the Pacific

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Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides is a superb read. It tells the story of the raid by the 6th Ranger Battalion to rescue 500 POWs who were survivors of the Bataan Death March from a camp in 1945. As background information it tells the POWs angle as well, from the time of their capture until their liberation, along with some who had been sent to Japan as slave laborers aboard “Hell Ships”.

Get Yamamoto, by Burke Davis, the story of the mission to shoot down the Admiral, from the time that the mission was conceived through its’ immediate aftermath. Good coverage of one of the most consequential fighter missions of the Pacific war.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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keavdog
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Re: War in the Pacific

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I read Ghost soldiers - pretty nasty business going on there. Great story about the heroic filipino fighters as well. They made a movie out of that book as well.
For a series based on books - HBO's the Pacific is pretty gritty. Here's the 'based on' stuff for reference.

It is based primarily on the memoirs of two US Marines: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. It also draws on Sledge's memoir China Marine and Red Blood, Black Sand, the memoir of Chuck Tatum, a Marine who fought alongside Basilone at Iwo Jima.
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Re: War in the Pacific

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:grin: So - between you you've pretty much recommended every TV show and book written on the subject!

Thanks Gents, really appreciate it. I'll have a nose through the list and let you know what I start with. I'm currently reading 'The Battle of the Atlantic' by Jonathan Dimbleby but I'd like to pick something up to follow.
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Stikpusher
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Re: War in the Pacific

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keavdog wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:59 am I read Ghost soldiers - pretty nasty business going on there. Great story about the heroic filipino fighters as well. They made a movie out of that book as well.
For a series based on books - HBO's the Pacific is pretty gritty. Here's the 'based on' stuff for reference.

It is based primarily on the memoirs of two US Marines: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. It also draws on Sledge's memoir China Marine and Red Blood, Black Sand, the memoir of Chuck Tatum, a Marine who fought alongside Basilone at Iwo Jima.
The movie made about the Cabanatuan Raid was “The Great Raid”. A good movie, but not great. But yes, I did love how they included the Filipino guerrillas and the Alamo Scouts into the film. “The Pacific” was a good series, but the screen writers certainly took more liberties with the source materials than was done with “Band of Brothers”. I read both Leckie’s and Sledge’s wartime memoirs, and some of the stuff shown in the series just didn’t happen. Or at least wasnt in either one’s books. Personally I felt that the screen writers were projecting then current events from Iraq and Afghanistan into the series. Although I gotta say that the Pelilieu assault landing sequence was absolutely fantastic.
Stuart wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 3:00 pm :grin: So - between you you've pretty much recommended every TV show and book written on the subject!

Thanks Gents, really appreciate it. I'll have a nose through the list and let you know what I start with. I'm currently reading 'The Battle of the Atlantic' by Jonathan Dimbleby but I'd like to pick something up to follow.
Lol! Honestly I can’t think of any great single all encompassing works on the Pacific War. I have some books that I’ve found on clearance on the subject in my library, but don’t go in depth into any one battle or campaign. And then when you add in the China/Burma/India campaigns it gets even more complicated to research.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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Re: War in the Pacific

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Here's an idea if you want to view the Pacific War from the opposing viewpoint of one of the enemy's greatest pilots: "Samurai" (?) by Saburo Sakai, describing his exploits and experiences in the Pacific War. Definitely fleshes out a lot of the events that we are all familiar with.
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Re: War in the Pacific

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Hey Mark that reminds me there's Flags Of Our Fathers and the movie and then the Japanese view Letters From Iwo Jima.

I need to re-watch those.
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Stikpusher
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Re: War in the Pacific

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Mark, I don’t know if you’ve ever read “The Rising Sun”, but that work is written from the Japanese perspective. It is most eye opening to read their reasons for going to war, and for the path to peace at the end.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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Re: War in the Pacific

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I'm currently reading this one off and on. Really good read.

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Re: War in the Pacific

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Thanks Mike.
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Re: War in the Pacific

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I watched Dauntless on Freevee (Roku channel) a couple le weeks back. Great movie.
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