According to the book description of D-Days in the Pacific with the
United States Coast Guard, "Winner of the 2008 Foundation for Coast
Guard History Book Award The images of soldiers and marines coming ashore on
hostile shores are embedded in our collective memory of World War II. But what
of the sailors who manned the landing craft, going back and forth under fire
with nowhere to take cover, their craft the special targets of enemy gunners?
In this book, Ken Wiley, a Coast Guardsman on an Attack Transport in the
Pacific, relates the intricate, often nerve wracking story of how the United
States projected its power across 6,000 miles in the teeth of fanatical Japanese
resistance. Each invasion was a swirl of moving parts, from frogmen to fire
support, transport mother ships to Attack Transports, the smaller Higgins boats
(LCVPs), and during the last terrifying stage the courageous men who would storm
the beaches.
The author participated in the campaigns for the Marshall Islands, the Marianas
the Philippines and Okinawa, and with a precise eye for detail relates numerous
aspects of landing craft operations, such as ferrying wounded, that are often
discounted. He conveys the terror and horrors of war, as well as, on occasion,
the thrill, while not neglecting the humor and camaraderie of wartime life.
An exciting book, full of harrowing combat action, D Days in the Pacific also
provides a valuable service in expanding our knowledge of exactly how World War
IIs massive amphibious operations were undertaken."
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