As today is the anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima, I open this up to any book about Iwo Jima. Tell us your favorite book about Iwo Jima our if you are currently working on one right now. My favorite is Flags of Our Fathers.
i would agree with flags of our fathers and add the battle for iwo jima 1945 by derrick wright this gives an excellent all round description of the battle this and flags make the perfect two books to have on the battle
I previously commented about a book by Richard Wheeler, one of the men in the platoon that raised the first flag on Mount Suribachi, titled The Bloody Battle for Suribachi. After meeting some of the men of that platoon personally at a World War II event, I was interested to read about their story and informed about the book. I most recently read another of Richard Wheeler's books which is simply called IWO. It is a great read, containing much information not only from the perspective of the Americans but also the Japanese. Alot of the information on the Japanese side was gathered by the author directly from former Japanese warriors or their families. Quotes by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, appear on the covers of both of Wheeler's books-calling the one the best on the battle for the Mountain and the other the best on Iwo Jima. I am now reading a book by Chuck Tatum called Red Blood, Black Sand. He was another participant on Iwo Jima.
I am not reading ny books on Iwo right now but I did a research project for JanTerm classes last month on the Flag raisers and thier comrades. Interesting stuff I found; Mike Strank was a Czech immigrant, and he wanted to be the president of the United States when he was seven. He was ironically killed by friendly fire misdirected by a friendly ship. His stomach was blown away and recieved shrapnel wounds to all parts of hi body. He died less than a minute later. Read about all sorts of stuff like this, if you're looking for info.
I think Richard Wheeler did a good job with Iwo (as in the book) but I though he should have added in more of an eyewitness stand instead of just mentioning himself briefly. Maybe he should have written one book about the island as a whole and another as an autobiography. I also read Iwo Jima by Richard Newcomb and The Battle of Iwo Jima 1945 by Derrick Wright. Both great books. By the way Mike was killed by shrapnel taking out his heart and died instantly. Corporal Harlon Block was killed by shrapnel tearing his gut wide open. He fell to the ground struggling to shove his intestines back in. His last words were, "They killed me Momma." Painful, but true.
Sousely was also killed, by a Japanese sniper, soon after the cemetery on Iwo Jima was started. "Boots" Thomas was making a call on the field radio near "The Ampitheater" when a Japanese bullet went through his mouth and killed him instantly. Just tragic stories you hear about what happend to these guys. God bless America.
I read Wheeler's IWO pretty recently and I thought that was quite good. I really like the books that give a lot of first hand accounts from the fighting man's point of view and this book certainly did not lack in that category. Flags of Our Fathers was good as well although I read it like five years ago. That would be worth a re-read. I just finished The Story of World War Two by Donald Miller and that had a good, fairly in depth chapter on the battle. It offered a few interesting facts that I had never heard or read previous. I let you read it yourselves to find out. The ferocity of the fighting and the loss of life on Iwo Jima were apaulling. On this being the 63rd anniversary of the battle if my math is correct everybody should take a little time to remember the sacrifices made on that island in the name of freedom. Rest in Peace Marines.
