The Final Storm - Jeff Shaara [2]
General Douglas MacArthur, USA
William Manchester, Sixth Division, USMC
Private First Class Dick Mitchell, USMC
Admiral Chester Nimitz, USN
Journalist Ernie Pyle
Captain Lawrence Renfroe, USN
Lieutenant Louis Claude Roark, USAAC
General Holland M. Smith, USMC
Major Rick Spooner, USMC
Sergeant Robert Stanfill, USMC
General Joseph Stilwell, USA
Seaman Richard Thelen, USN (USS Indianapolis)
Colonel Paul Tibbets, 509th Composite Group, USAAF
President Harry S. Truman
Ken Vander Molen, 182nd Infantry Regiment, USA
The following have graciously and generously provided me with research material. Thank you to all.
Bill Baird, St. Petersburg, Florida
Bruce Breeding, Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Celia Edmundson, Sarasota, Florida
Charles Fannin, San Jose, California
Edward Figlewicz, Jr., Skokie, Illinois
Jared Frederick, Blacksburg, Virginia
Major Richard Gartrell, USMC
Dr. C. R. Gennaria, Winchester, Virginia
Colonel Keith Gibson, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia
Hill Goodspeed, National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida
Scott Hardy
Pete Harmeling, Danvers, Massachusetts
Rick Henderson, National Cryptologic Museum, Fort George Meade, Maryland
Vern Hettinga
Vice Admiral Gerald L. Hoewing, USN (Ret.), Pensacola, Florida
David Hoffert, Wabash, Indiana
Captain William P. Hogan, USN (Ret.), Bellevue, Washington
Phoebe Hunter, Missoula, Montana
Victoria Hurd, Sarasota, Florida
Helen Hutchison, Tallahassee, Florida
Jack Ingram, Columbia, Maryland
Dennis Lorton, Winter Haven, Florida
Ken Lummus, Indio, California
Cole McCulloch, Martinsburg, Virginia
Cope Mitchell, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Joe Moser, Long Beach, California
Bruce and Linda Novak, Needham, Massachusetts
James Ormsby, Leesburg, Georgia
Bruce Poole, Hagerstown, Maryland
Jim Reeb, USS Torsk Maritime Museum, Baltimore, Maryland
Liz Renfroe, Tallahassee, Florida
Stephen Roark, Denver, Colorado
Bob Roffler, North Yarmouth, Maine Mort Rubin, USN
Margaret C. Smith, Merritt Island, Florida
Jim Tollerton, Sarasota, Florida
Ken Urbach, Lake Mary, Florida
Ray Voet, Ionia, Michigan
Kay Whitlock, Missoula, Montana
Mike Wicklein, Baltimore, Maryland
Bill Zeilstra, Grand Rapids, Michigan
INTRODUCTION
Contrary to what many of us are taught, the Second World War does not begin on September 1, 1939, with Hitler’s army invading Poland. In fact, by that time, a war has already been fought on Asian soil for eight years.
In the summer of 1931, the most militant among the Japanese Imperial High Command fabricate an incident that, to them, justifies an all-out invasion of Manchuria, China’s northernmost province. More “incidents” are revealed, which lead to attacks against the major Chinese cities of Shanghai and Nanking. The primitive Chinese army is no match for the well-trained and well-equipped Japanese, and in mere months, vast swaths of Chinese territory fall into Japanese hands. By the mid-1930s, Japanese aggression has inspired the League of Nations to offer what amounts to a slap on Japanese wrists. But the Chinese begin to counter, and under the command of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese army begins at least to slow the Japanese down. Though the political ramifications of a war between such distant (and foreign) cultures produce few concerns in the West, it is the massacres of Chinese civilians that begin to draw Western attention. The numbers of dead and the ferocity of the Japanese soldiers are staggering, reports causing President Roosevelt to issue a partial embargo on raw materials allowed to enter Japan. As the brutalities against Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian peoples escalate, Roosevelt ups the ante by freezing Japanese assets held in the United States. The Japanese respond with loud indignation and claim the need for self-protection from such aggression. They sign the Tripartite Pact, aligning themselves with Germany and Italy, each nation pledging to come to the aid of the others in the event of further