BattleFire!
Combat Stories from World War II
Col. Arthur L. Kelly
- “From
- Pearl
- Harbor
- to
- Leyte
- Gulf
- and
- Okinawa
- to
- Iwo
- Jima,
- the
- stories
- are
- presented
- as
- the
- individual
- soldiers,
- sailors,
- and
- marines
- lived
- them.”
- —Gun
- WeekPearl
- Harbor,
- December
- 7,
- 1941:
- High
- on
- the
- bridge
- of
- the
- USS
- West
- Virginia
- Sfc.
- Lee
- Ebner
- was
- looking
- forward
- to
- the
- end
- of
- his
- watch
- and
- a
- relaxed
- Sunday
- morning
- breakfast.
- But
- the
- two
- low-flying
- planes
- painted
- with
- rising
- sun
- insignia
- and
- bearing
- down
- on
- the
- ship
- had
- other
- plans
- for
- him
- and
- his
- fellow
- seamen.
- Ten
- hours
- later,
- at
- Clark
- Field
- in
- the
- Philippines,
- Pfc.
- Jack
- Reed
- felt
- the
- brunt
- of
- another
- Japanese
- air
- attack
- and
- within
- weeks
- found
- himself
- a
- part
- of
- the
- gruesome
- Bataan
- Death
- March
- that
- was
- to
- claim
- the
- lives
- of
- hundreds
- of
- his
- comrades.
- On
- another
- continent,
- four
- years
- into
- the
- war,
- Capt.
- Benjamin
- Butler
- led
- his
- exhausted
- company
- up
- a
- steep,
- fog-shrouded
- Italian
- mountain
- toward
- a
- well
- entrenched
- German
- defensive
- position.
- The
- odds
- against
- their
- survival
- were
- appalling,
- though
- worse
- was
- to
- come
- in
- the
- months
- ahead.Such
- were
- the
- experiences
- of
- many
- young
- men-plucked
- from
- their
- local
- communities
- all
- across
- America,
- trained
- for
- war,
- and
- hurled
- into
- the
- strange
- reality
- of
- combat
- thousands
- of
- miles
- from
- home.
- In
- this
- stunning
- collection
- of
- World
- War
- II
- oral
- histories,
- Arthur
- Kelly
- recreates
- the
- experiences
- of
- twelve
- young
- men
- from
- Kentucky
- who
- survived
- the
- seemingly
- unsurvivable,
- whether
- in
- combat
- or
- as
- prisoners
- of
- war.“A
- fascinating
- collection
- .
- .
- .
- A
- story
- of
- men
- at
- their
- best
- in
- the
- worst
- of
- times.”
- —Louisville
- Courier-Journal“This
- excellent
- book
- continues
- the
- current
- trend
- of
- exploring
- the
- individual
- soldier’s
- experiences
- in
- World
- War
- II.”
- —Military Review
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