One Square Mile of Hell : The Battle for Tarawa

by Wukovits, John

• ISBN13: 9780451218476
• ISBN10: 0451218477
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover

Summary

"In the Tarawa atoll lies the tiny islet of Betio - barely a speck on the map in the Pacific Ocean. In November 1943, the young men of the 2d Marine Division watched in awe as naval and air bombardments smashed and incinerated the island and its Japanese defenses. Then they were to simply sweep across the island, clearing out any token resistance, and return to their waiting ships." "But when the Marines landed, the truth became nightmarishly clear as the Japanese - most of whom had, incredibly, survived the onslaught - poured out of their protective subterranean bunkers and began one of the most brutal and bloody encounters of World War II." "During the ensuing three days of nonstop fighting, the entire island was transformed into an all-encompassing kill zone. Attackers and defenders faced off with one another over every square inch of sand in a battle with no defined front lines, in which combatants found themselves mixed together in a chaotic hell of cross fires, and where there was no possibility of retreat - if only because there was nowhere to retreat to. It was a clash that would leave both sides stunned and exhausted, and prove both the fighting mettle of the Americans and the fanatical devotion of the Japanese." "Drawn from new sources, such as participants' letters and diaries and exclusive firsthand interviews with survivors of those bloody three days, One Square Mile of Hell is the riveting true account of a battle between two determined foes, neither of whom would ever look at the other in the same way again."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

John Wukovits is the author of Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island, several military biographies, and many articles for such publications as World WarII History, Naval History, World War II, The Journal of Military History, and Naval War College Review. Author website: onesquaremileofhell.com

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
``Where's Pearl Harbor?''	1	(20)
``Tokyo, We Are Coming''	21	(22)
``Have You Made Out Your Will?''	43	(20)
``A Million Men Cannot Take Tarawa''	63	(32)
``Commence Firing---the War Is On''	95	(16)
``We Have Nothing Left to Land''	111	(30)
``I Was Unprepared for This''	141	(34)
``A Fight in a Ring Between Two Boxers''	175	(24)
``Nothing Was Left---No Trees, No Buildings''	199	(24)
``A Requiem Fitting for Heroes So Proud''	223	(28)
``You Say It's Not on the Map, My Son?''	251	(20)
Notes	271	(24)
Bibliography	295	(18)
Index	313