Overview

"2020 FINALIST IN THE NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS!  AND 2020 FINALIST IN THE READERS' FAVORITE AWARD CONTEST! ""The grim reaper missed me. The dumb bastard had a close-up swing at me on six different occasions-and missed."" - Roy Wilkes The Invasion of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theatre, and Roy Wilkes, USMC, was unfortunate enough to have a front-row seat. True, gripping stories of being a scared 17-year-old Combat Marine trying to stay alive behind enemy lines. He witnessed twenty-three of his friends die in a bombing. True, gripping stories and pictures reveal the mind, heart, and soul of a fighting WWII Marine. This fascinating book is also a perfect history lesson for war buffs and students since it covers all aspects of the Battle of Okinawa: Mental, emotional, historical, and personal. There are short stories about the war-some tragic, some funny, some thought-provoking-but all true. There are also 54 pictures, two interviews with Roy, and ""After the War"" pages. This eyewitness account gives the complete picture of what World War II was really like. Also how PTSD was with him till the end of his life. In his twilight years, he reflects on how his nightmare war memories affected his life, and yet his indomitable spirit helped him cope, and become successful in life. Excerpts from this book: ""The casualties were monumental. Trucks were coming down the lines with Marines piled like cordwood. They put ponchos over 'em, but you could see all these feet dangling out. It was like a conveyor belt. We were going up and they were coming back. The only difference is we were alive-and they were dead."" ""Continuous rain dampened the soul. The low, thick dark clouds made sure God didn't see. What happened here was a secret from Him. God was busy someplace else. So this part of His Universe went insane."""

Full Product Details

9780977428779

Table of Contents

Reviews

Rave Reviews for War is Personal This book is a valuable addition to WWII literature, as it reveals the mind, heart, and soul of a fighting Marine. It also has numerous actual photos from World War II Okinawa. It's engrossing from beginning to end. --David Aretha, co-editor of World War II Chronicle ------------------- Inspired by his older brother, an Illinois teenager named Roy Wilkes joined the Marine Corps in 1945. Trained as a rifleman and assigned to the 6th Marine Division, PFC Wilkes eventually found himself in the Pacific, on a Japanese-held island called Okinawa. Seventy miles long, fewer than ten miles across, and just 350 miles from Japan, Okinawa was the last stop on America's ambitious island-hopping campaign of World War II. It was also the bloodiest and most costly. War is Personal relates Roy Wilkes' Okinawa experience in his own words, compiled by his daughter, Elaine Wilkes, and illustrated with family and archival photographs. Alternately poetic, unflinchingly harsh, and dryly funny, Roy's account captures not just the personal cost of war, but expresses the ways in which Roy wrestled with his wartime memories to forge a meaningful and unusually productive life. Reading War is Personal, I felt informed, moved and, ultimately, encouraged. --David J. Hogan, editor-in-chief and contributing writer, World War II Chronicle and The Holocaust Chronicle ------------------- With chilling interviews and pictures, Elaine Wilkes takes us back to WWII in Okinawa, the pain, the death, and that thousand-yard stare. This is a must-read book for any of us with loved ones or friends who fought and served -- for we cannot possibly comprehend the battlefield terror that changed their inner being forever. 'War is Personal' helps us to better understand the things that they are unable to share with us. --Lt. Col. Jaime Parent, USAF, author of Moving Past PTSD ------------------ One Marine's deeply personal account of the cold realities of combat. --John H. Briggs, Major, United States Army, Retired -------------------

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available