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Islands of the Damned
- A Marine at War in the Pacific
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
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Growing up on a farm in Ohio, George always preferred being outdoors and exploring. This made school a challenge, but his hunting, fishing, and trapping skills helped put food on his family's table. As a poor teenager living in a rough area, he got into regular brawls, and he found holding down a job hard because of his wanderlust. After working out West with the CCC, he decided that joining the Marines offered him the opportunity for adventure plus three square meals a day; so he and his brother joined the Corps in 1941.
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Indestructible
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On February 20, 1945, the second day of the assault on Iwo Jima - one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific theater in World War II - Private Jack Lucas, who was only 17, and three other Marines engaged in a close-proximity firefight with Japanese soldiers. When two enemy grenades landed in their trench, Lucas jumped on one and pulled the other under his body to save the lives of his comrades. Lucas was blown into the air as his body was torn apart by 250 entrance wounds. He was so severely wounded that his team left him for dead. Miraculously, he survived.
Publisher's Summary
This is an eyewitness - and eye-opening - account of some of the most savage and brutal fighting in the war against Japan, told from the perspective of a young Texan who volunteered for the Marine Corps to escape a life as a traveling salesman.
R. V. Burgin enlisted at the age of 20 and, with his sharp intelligence and earnest work ethic, climbed the ranks from a green private to a seasoned sergeant. Along the way, he shouldered a rifle as a member of a mortar squad. He saw friends die and enemies killed. He saw scenes he wanted to forget but never did - from enemy snipers who tied themselves to branches in the highest trees, to ambushes along narrow jungle trails, to the abandoned corpses of hara kiri victims, to the final howling banzai attacks as the Japanese embraced their inevitable defeat.
An unforgettable narrative of a young Marine in combat, Islands of the Damned brings to life the hell that was the Pacific War.
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- Anonymous User
- 11-06-2023
Amazing
Great to hear a bit more about Peleliu. Also pleased he loved Australia and ended up happily married to an Aussie girl. Hard to believe what they survived and go back to a relatively normal life. Will listen to again.
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- Shannen Twine
- 12-09-2019
Outstanding
I loved this detailed account of horror & bravery in the furnaces of the pacific. Brilliant, enthralling, terrifying & fascinating.
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- L. Knight
- 31-01-2022
Great
Though too short! Well worth the listen but would have liked it a bit longer, lots of things skimmed over
Regardless, fantastic listen
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- Beech Simmonds
- 24-01-2024
A great personal account of a Marine in the Pacific.
R. V Burgins account of his war in the pacific is a terrific read. It is really well written and very detailed in his recollections of the fighting, his fellow marines and of the enemy they faced. The pacific campaign was one of many horrors, brutal fighting, an unrelenting enemy and fighting in terrible conditions of heat, humidity, dense foliage and disease. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really liked reading Burgins perspective of some of the battles I have read about in other books. I think this is a really well captured personal account. I’ll definitely be coming back to listen to this one again. A great book!
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