even remember the names of the battles we were in?” For similar reasons the body of water separating Guadalcanal from Florida and other islands is called Iron Bottom Bay, rather than Iron Bottom Sound as historians now call it. No one in my memory ever called it anything but “the bay,” although it is actually neither bay nor sound but a channel and was known as Sealark Channel before the war. Also, jaw-breaking Navy Medical Corps ratings such as Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class and, worse, the mystifying abbeviation PHM 2/C, have been avoided simply by using the title “Corpsman” for all these men who served with the Marines.
It is hoped that readers will grant that numerous dramatizations such as the last few minutes aboard the sinking battleship Yamato or the suicidal end of Generals Ushijima and Cho on Okinawa or the words which Colonel Hiromichi Yahara spoke beneath Shuri Castle have their basis in historical fact. The first comes from Morison’s Victory in the Pacific, Volume XIV of his series, which quotes a surviving ensign named Mitsuru Yoshida; the second from Japanese prisoners of war quoted in Okinawa: The Last Battle, by Roy E. Appleman, et al; the third from Okinawa Operations Record and the Yahara Interrogation quoted in Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific, by Major Charles S. Nichols, U.S.M.C., and Henry I. Shaw, Jr.
Mr. Shaw, incidentally, kindly consented to check my manuscript for accuracy. He has spent the last decade researching and writing histories of the Marines in World War Two, and there are few people so well qualified to hunt for error or to detect the apocryphal. I am most grateful to him, both for helpful suggestions and corrections. Those mistakes that remain here are, of course, mine.
Before I conclude, let me acknowledge my debt to the Marine Corps and to its commandant, General David M. Shoup, as well as to Colonel James E. Mills, head of the Division of Information, and to Lieutenant Colonel Philip N. Pierce of that division’s media section. The staff of the Marine Historical Branch commanded by Colonel Thomas G. Roe has been of invaluable assistance with its customary grace and generosity, especially Mr. D. Michael O’Quinlivan, head of research and records. Although Mr. Robert D. Loomis, my editor at Random House, is already aware of my gratitude, the reader should know that if this book is consistently clear and all signposts are plainly marked, this is chiefly to the credit of his advice and criticism.
Finally, all that is subjective or impressionistic here—and I admit there is much of it—comes from my own experience in the war. This I regard as my warrant for having written this story in this way.
ROBERT LECKIE
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
September 4, 1961
APPLEMAN, ROY E., et al. Okinawa: The Last Battle. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948.
ARNOLD, ARMY GEN. H. H. Global Mission. New York: Harper & Bros., 1949.
AURTHUR, 1ST LT. ROBERT A., et al. The Third Marine Division. Washington : Infantry Journal Press, 1948.
BARTLEY, LT. COL. WHITMAN S. Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954.
BLAKENEY, JANE. Heroes: U.S.M.C. Published by author, 1957.
BLANKFORT, MICHAEL. The Big Yankee: A Biography of Evans Carlson. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1947.
BOGGS, MAJOR CHARLES W., JR. Marine Aviation in the Philippines. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951.
BOYINGTON, COL. GREGORY. Baa Baa Black Sheep: An Autobiography. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1958.
BAYLER, LT. COL. WALTER L. J., and CARNES, CECIL. Last Man off Wake Island. Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1943.
CANNON, M. HAMLIN. Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954.
CASS, BEVAN G. History of the Sixth Marine Division. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1948.
CONDIT, KENNETH w., and TURNBLADH, EDWIN T. Hold High the Torch: A History of the Fourth Marines. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1960.
CONN, STETSON, and FAIRCHILD, BYRON. The Framework of Hemisphere Defense. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1960.
CONNER, HOWARD M. The Spearhead: History of the Fifth Marine Division. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1950.
CROWL, PHILIP A. Campaign in the Marianas. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1960.
CROWL, PHILIP A., and LOVE, EDMUND G. Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1955.
DAVIDSON, ORLANDO R., et al. The Deadeyes: The Story of the 96th Infantry Division. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1947.
DECHANT, CAPT. JOHN A. Devilbirds: The Story of United States Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. New York: Harper & Bros., 1947.
DEVEREUX, COL. JAMES P. s. The Story of Wake Island. Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1947.
ESPOSITO, COL. VINCENT J. (chief ed.). The West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol. 2. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959.
FELDT, COMMANDER ERIC A., R.A.N. The Coastwatchers. New York and Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1946.
FOSTER, CAPTAIN JOHN M. Hell in the Heavens: The True Combat Adventures of a Marine Fighter Pilot. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1961.
FULLER, MAJ. GEN. J. F. c. The Second World War. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949.
GOLDBERG, ALFRED (ed.). A History of the United States Air Force, 1907-1957. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand, 1958.
GREENFIELD, KENT ROBERTS (ed.). Command Decisions. (“U.S. Army in World War II.”) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1960.
HALSEY, FLEET ADML. WILLIAM F., and BRYAN, LT. CMDR. J., m. Admiral Halsey’s Story. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1947.
HAYASHI, SABURO, with COOX, ALVIN D. Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Quantico, Va.: The Marine Corps Association, 1959.
HEINL, LT. COL. ROBERT D., JR. The Defense of Wake. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1947.
—. Marines at Midway. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948.
HEINL, LT. COL. ROBERT D., JR., and CROWN, LT. COL. JOHN A. The Marshalls: Increasing the Tempo. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954.
HOFFMAN, MAJOR CARL w. Saipan: The Beginning of the End. (Marine Corps Historical Monograph.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950.
HOUGH, LT. COL. FRANK o., et al. Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. (“History of U.S.
