Overview

"This illustrated survey of all aspects of the Pacific war, from Pearl Harbor to Japan's surrender in Tokyo Bay, offers an extensive colour portfolio of dramatic wartime relics that have survived decades on most of the Pacific island battlefields. Rusting American landing craft and tanks still can be found on the treacherous reefs and beaches where they were tragically stopped by enemy fire so long ago; aircraft of both sides lie hidden in the jungles where they crashed; battle-scarred Japanese pillboxes and artillery emplacements still stand sentinel; and packed-coral landing strips remain as good as new. Such evocative memento mori have been captured on film by Jerry Meehl, probably the only photographer to have sought out these far-flung battle sites, many of them still dangerous underfoot and now off-limits to travellers. The authors also searched official archives for pictures that show the real terrors of combat and often found images displaying the very tanks and amtracs now decomposing on distant invasion beaches. They also found captured prewar photos of newly built Japanese pillboxes and gun emplacements, which they contrast with images of their current war-torn condition. But ""Pacific Legacy"" is far from just a ""then"" and ""now"" picture book. Each photo essay of particular battles features a lively narrative that relies heavily on the firsthand accounts of men who were there, archival pictures shot during the actual fighting, and colour photographs of the remaining Japanese bunkers and gun emplacements, all of which help the reader visualize what hand-to-hand combat in the Pacific war must have been like."

Full Product Details

Author:   Rex Alan Smith ,  Gerald A. Meehl ,  Gerald A. Meehl ,  Joe Foss
Publisher:   Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.
Imprint:   Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.
Dimensions:   Width: 26.20cm , Height: 3.10cm , Length: 26.40cm
Weight:   1.718kg
ISBN:  

9780789207616

ISBN 10:   0789207613
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   16 May 2002
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface Foreword by Joe Foss Chapter I: This Is No Drill! - The Attack on Pearl Harbor - Pearl Harbor - Remember Wake Island - The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo Chapter II: The Time Buyers - Losing the Philippines - The Bataan Death March - Surrendering Corregidor Chapter III: The Long Road Back - Invading Guadalcanal - Guadalcanal - Tulagi and the PT Boats - Munda and the Evolution of an Island Base - Bora Bora the Island Paradise Chapter IV: A Thousand Honored Dead - Overcoming Tarawa - Tarawa - Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, the B-29 Bases - On the Sidelines - Peleliu, the Unnecessary Sacrifice - They Also Serve Who Stand and Wait - Returning to the Philippines Chapter V: Uncommon Valor a Common Virtue - Securing Iwo Jima - Iwo Jima - The Interpreters - Pacific Island Natives - Okinawa, the Last Land Battle Chapter VI: Nothing New About Death - Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Atom Bombs and the Japanese Surrender

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Author Information

Rex Alan Smith is a veteran of 36 months with the Army Engineers in the Pacific. His books include: One Last Look (Abbeville), about the 8th Air Force in World War II, and The Carving of Mount Rushmore (Abbeville). Gerald Meehl, the author of more than 90 articles, has traveled extensively in the South Pacific for three decades and has photographed every major island battlefield as well as other related sites. Joe Foss, Medal of Honor winner at Guadalcanal, was the Marine Corps' Ace of Aces, with 26 confirmed kills, the first American fighter pilot to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's record set in World War I.

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