Synopses & Reviews
In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Divisionandmdash;also known as andldquo;The Spearheadandrdquo;andmdash;in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jimaandhellip;. When Charlie Tatum entered Camp Pendleton to begin Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under the watchful eyes of a living legend of the Corpsandmdash;Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost-single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three-thousand on Guadalcanal, and survived.
It was from Basilone and other andquot;Old Breedandquot; sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a man, as he went through the hell of boot camp to the raucous port of Pearl Harbor with its gambling, gals, and tattoos, to the island of death itself, where he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines in the climactic battle of the Pacific Theater.
It was on that godforsaken strip of land that Tatum and Basilone would meet again under a hellish rain of bullets and bombsandmdash;and where Tatum would make his own mark, carrying ammo for the machine gun carried by Basilone. Together they would lead the breakout off the beach, driving through and destroying a swath of enemy soldiers in the first man-to-man combat on Iwo Jima.
Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuckandrsquo;s two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle.
Before the end, Chuck would find himself, like Basilone, standing alone, blind with rage, firing a machine gun from the hip, in a personal battle to kill a relentless foe he had come to hate. This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima, through the eyes of the battleandrsquo;s greatest living storyteller, Chuck Tatum.
Review
andldquo;In my judgment no combat veteranandrsquo;s memoir is betterandhellip;and only a handful are equal.andrdquo;-- Stephen E. Ambrose
Review
andquot;Chuck Tatum was there, a participant in and a witness to history. If it is possible to answer the question, 'What was it like?', he tells you in this book.andquot; -- Tom Hanks
Review
"For anyone who cares about the human dimension of war-- its cost and its heroism-- Sid Phillip's book is a must read..." --Ken Burns, Emmy award-winning filmmaker
"We have an extraordinary opportunity now to recognize perhaps THE key player, if there is one, if there's ONLY one key player, he might be at the very top of the pyramid... a native of Mobile, Alabama, a man who appears over and over in our series... Dr. Sid Phillips." --Tom Hanks, Executive Producer, The Pacific
"Like his life-long friend, Eugene Sledge, Sid Phillips speaks to us in these enchanting memoirs in his natural voice, engaging and modest, full of insight and intelligence, but ever alert to the lighter side of even the most dismal human circumstances. And like any great story teller, he leaves you wishing to hear a great deal more." --Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
Review
"From Guadalcanal through Bougainville to Peleliu, Nez relates a riveting tale of jungle combat and his personal struggle to adapt to civilian life following the most cataclysmic war in our nation’s history. Gripping in its narrative,
Code Talker is history at its best."-- Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army (Ret.), co-author of
Beyond Band of BrothersReview
"A fascinating inside look at one of WWII’s most closely guarded secrets…This is an important book, a previously untold piece of our history."-- Marcus Brotherton, author of
Shifty's WarReview
"You don’t need to be a fan of World War II literature to appreciate this memoir…a fascinating melange of combat in the Pacific theater, the history of the Navajo people and the development of a uniquely American code."-- The Associated Press
Review
"A unique, inspiring story by a member of the Greatest Generation." -- Kirkus Reviews
Review
andldquo;In my judgment, no combat veteranandrsquo;s memoir is better . . . and only a handful are equal.andrdquo;andmdash;Stephen E. Ambrose
andldquo;Chuck Tatum was there, a participant in and a witness to history. If it is possible to answer the question andlsquo;What was it like?andrsquo;, he tells you in this book.andrdquo; andmdash;Tom Hanks
Review
andldquo;In my judgment, no combat veteranandrsquo;s memoir is better . . . and only a handful are equal.andrdquo;andmdash;Stephen E. Ambrose
andldquo;Chuck Tatum was there, a participant in and a witness to history. If it is possible to answer the question andlsquo;What was it like?andrsquo;, he tells you in this book.andrdquo; andmdash;Tom Hanks
Synopsis
In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Division--also known as "The Spearhead"--in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. . .
When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps--Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
It was from Basilone and other sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a man--skills he would need when he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines.
Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuck's two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle.
This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima, through the eyes of the battle's greatest living storyteller, Chuck Tatum.
Synopsis
A story of heroism, friendship, and courage in World War 2--as seen in the award-winning HBO miniseries The Pacific. In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Division--also known as "The Spearhead"--in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima...
When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps--Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
It was from Basilone and other sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a man--skills he would need when he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines.
Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuck's two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle. This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima--through the eyes of one who survived it.
Synopsis
Sid Phillips knew he was a long way from his home in Mobile, Alabama, when he plunged into the jungles of Guadalcanal in August 1942...
A mortarman with H-2-1 of the legendary 1st Marine Division, Sid was only seventeen years old when he entered combat with the Japanese. Some two years later, when he returned home, the island fighting on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester had turned Sid into an "Old Timer" by Marine standards, and more: he left as a boy, but came home a man.
These are his memoirs, the humble and candid tales that Sid collected during a Pacific odyssey spanning half the globe, from the grueling boot camp at Parris Island, to the coconut groves of Guadalcanal, to the romantic respite of Australia. In this true story, Sid recalls his encounters with icons like Chesty Puller, General Vandergrift, Eleanor Roosevelt, and his boyhood friend, Eugene Sledge. Here, he remembers the rain of steel from Japanese bombers and battleships, the brutality of the tropical elements, and the haunting notion of being expendable.
This is the story of how Sid stood shoulder to shoulder with his Marine brothers to discover the inner strength and deep faith necessary to survive the dark, early days, of WWII in the Pacific.
Synopsis
The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII-includes the actual Navajo Code and rare photos.
Although more than 400 Navajos served in the military during World War II as top-secret code talkers, even those fighting shoulder to shoulder with them were not told of their covert function. And, after the war, the Navajos were forbidden to speak of their service until 1968, when the code was finally declassified. Of the original twenty- nine Navajo code talkers, only two are still alive. Chester Nez is one of them.
In this memoir, the eighty-nine-year-old Nez chronicles both his war years and his life growing up on the Checkerboard Area of the Navajo Reservation-the hard life that gave him the strength, both physical and mental, to become a Marine. His story puts a living face on the legendary men who developed what is still the only unbroken code in modern warfare.
Synopsis
He is the only original World War II Navajo code talker still alive—and this is his story . . .
His name wasn’t Chestesr Nez. That was the English name he was assigned in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought to rid him of his culture and traditions. But discrimination didn’t stop Chester from answering the call to defend his country after Pearl Harbor, for the Navajo have always been warriors, and his upbringing on a New Mexico reservation gave him the strength—both physical and mental—to excel as a marine.
During World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific.
Synopsis
In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Divisionandmdash;also known as andldquo;The Spearheadandrdquo;andmdash;in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima. . .and#160; When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corpsandmdash;Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
It was from Basilone and other sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a manandmdash;skills he would need when he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines.
Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuckandrsquo;s two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle.
This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima, through the eyes of the battleandrsquo;s greatest living storyteller, Chuck Tatum.
About the Author
Dr. Sid Phillips, a Guadalcanal Marine, was born Sept 2, 1924, and enlisted in the USMC the day after Pearl Harbor. Passing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, he departed his land a nervous seventeen-year- old. Two years later, when he kissed the docks in San Diego, he had come home a hero. Together Sid and his brothers in the legendary 1st Marine Division won the first epic victory of the war, saved Australia, and stopped the Japanese juggernaut in the Pacific. Today, Sid enjoys his golden years surrounded by his family. He and his sister, Katherine, have become internationally known after their notable roles in Ken Burns' documentary The War and the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg /Gary Goetzman miniseries, The Pacific.