Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In honor of the 75th Anniversary of one of the most critical battles of World War II, the popular primetime Fox News anchor and host of The Story with Martha MacCallum pays tribute to the heroic men who sacrificed their lives in the fight to win Iwo Jima and defeat of the Japanese Imperial Army and Emperor Hirohito--including a member of her own family, her mother's cousin Harry.
When news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came over the radio in a Boston diner on Sunday, December 7, 1941, patrons gathered their children, still dressed in their church clothes, and ran out without paying. They didn't know what they needed to do, but they knew where they needed to be: home.
Martha MacCallum's mother was a child in that diner that day, and her thoughts went to her teenage cousin Harry. In Unknown Valor, MacCallum follows Harry from civilian life in Boston to the bloody battle on Sulphur Island that came to be known as Iwo Jima. She follows her mother's family on the homefront, from the days before the war to the days after they got the telegram every household with a loved one serving overseas dreaded.
Unknown Valor is the story of the Pacific war on the ground and at the top. MacCallum explores how the relentless and foolish Hirohito sacrificed his nation's future, and how the United States slowly drove the relentless Japanese forces back until their surrender.
Meticulously researched, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Unknown Valor is an homage to the sacrifices ordinary Americans made in the name of their country, and a reminder of the high cost of freedom.
Unknown Valor includes 16 pages of black and white photos.
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
In honor of the 75th Anniversary of one of the most critical battles of World War II, the popular primetime Fox News anchor of The Story with Martha MacCallum pays tribute to the heroic men who sacrificed everything at Iwo Jima to defeat the Armed Forces of Emperor Hirohito--among them, a member of her own family, Harry Gray.
Admiral Chester Nimitz spoke of the "uncommon valor" of the men who fought on Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of World War II. In thirty-six grueling days, nearly 7,000 Marines were killed and 22,000 were wounded.
Martha MacCallum takes us from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima through the lives of these men of valor, among them Harry Gray, a member of her own family.
In Unknown Valor, she weaves their stories--from Boston, Massachusetts, to Gulfport, Mississippi, as told through letters and recollections--into the larger history of what American military leaders rightly saw as an eventual showdown in the Pacific with Japan. In a relentless push through the jungles of Guadalcanal, over the coral reefs of Tarawa, past the bloody ridge of Peleliu, against the banzai charges of Guam, and to the cliffs of Saipan, these men were on a path that ultimately led to the black sands of Iwo Jima, the doorstep of the Japanese Empire.
Meticulously researched, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Unknown Valor reveals the sacrifices of ordinary Marines who saved the world from tyranny and left indelible marks on those back home who loved them.