How to go
What: A book-signing with Hugh Ambrose for “The Pacific”
When: 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 16
Where: Books&Co. at The Greene in Beavercreek
“The Pacific” by Hugh Ambrose (Caliber, 489 pages, $26.95)
My father was one of the Marines who fought to liberate Pacific islands from the Japanese during World War II. He never liked talking about the war. His reticence on that subject left me with a lifelong desire to comprehend what he might have experienced.
I’m thrilled that HBO is currently broadcasting a 10-part miniseries called “The Pacific.” It was produced by the same team that made the splendid HBO miniseries that dramatized the war in the European theater of operations: “Band of Brothers.”
If you are enjoying the television broadcasts of “The Pacific,” you should consider delving into the companion volume that was written to go along with the TV shows. “The Pacific” by Hugh Ambrose fills in the historical detail behind much of the action you can watch unfolding on HBO.
The author is the son of the late Stephen E. Ambrose, the WWII historian. He’ll be coming through the local area on Friday, April 16.
The TV programs focus on the war as seen through the eyes of three soldiers, Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. Readers of the companion book get an extra bonus; two other soldiers’ viewpoints on the war; Vernon Micheel, a dive bomber pilot, and Austin Shofner, a prisoner of war.
These two additional points of view are compelling. Micheel describes what it feels like to drop out of the sky in a steep dive and release a thousand pound bomb over a Japanese aircraft carrier at the Battle of Midway. Shofner’s account of his captivity reveals a gritty fortitude that was common among our soldiers and how that sense of determination finally won the day.
The surprise American attack that sank four Japanese aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway was the outcome of informational fruit harvested from an American code breaking device invented in Dayton. That victory was a slight measure of revenge for the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that took place six months before.
Sinking those carriers was crucial — they constituted a power imbalance tipped in favor of Japan. Secrecy was also paramount. While we broke Japanese codes we could not allow our own plans to be revealed. It is awesome to discover how planes maintaining radio silence and running low on fuel ultimately got their directions to attack via hand signals made by fellow pilots.
Sometimes we forget the massive scale of that war in the Pacific. Ambrose writes: “On the morning of April 1 the great cacophony opened up. It exceeded the invasion of Peleliu in all aspects: the amount of shelling, the number of aircraft overhead, the number of ships — the word was there were more here than had been at the Normandy invasion — but the veterans of King Company watched from their troopship APA 198 unmoved. They knew none of this mattered. The enemy was underground, waiting for the Marines to arrive.”
Here’s one more reading suggestion: “Islands of Hell — The U.S. Marines in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945” by Eric Hammell (Zenith Press, 284 pages, $50).
Contact book reviewer Vick Mickunas at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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