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Battalion of the Damned: The 1st Marine Paratroopers at Gavutu and Bloody Ridge, 1942, James F. CHRIST
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
In May 1942 the Japanese landed on a number of southern islands in the British Solomons and began constructing an airfield on Guadalcanal. Their actions threatened Australia and her vital American supply lines and could not be tolerated by the Allies. The 1st Marine Division, with its attached 1st Marine Parachute Battalion, was directed to spearhead the assault on Gavutu Island and take the Guadalcanal airfield, even though it was not prepared for such an offensive action. The result was a bloodbath, and when it was over, less that one in five of the Marine paratroopers walked off Bloody Ridge.
Although crucial to the action, the 1st Parachute Battalion is rarely credited for its part in what Gen. Alexander A. Vandergrift, USMC, called the key battle of the Guadalcanal campaign. Here, James F. Christ draws not only on government documents but also on hundreds of hours of interviews with the men who were there to tell their remarkable story. It is a story of how in the face of overwhelming odds and seemingly irrational decisions from above, the battalion fought heroically, accepting orders without question and adapting to circumstances beyond its control despite sickness and a critical shortage of resources. In bringing public attention to the contributions made by these men during the first amphibious assault by U.S. forces in World War II, this book adds significantly to the history of the war in the Pacific.
About the Author
JAMES F. CHRIST has traveled throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia visiting battle sites and talking to American veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars. He has interviewed more than 200 Marines from World War II and dozens of other U.S. servicemen from more recent wars. His first book, Mission Raise Hell: The U.S. Marines on Choiseul, October-November 1943, was published by the Naval Institute Press in 2006.
The author is currently at work on a third book about the Marine parachutists in Bougainville and has plans for a final, climatic work on the Marine parachutists at Iwo Jima. A graduate of Arizona State University, Christ lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where he is raising his sons Nolan and Trace.
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