The Pacific Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  ACT I - "HOUSE OF CARDS"

  ACT II - "EVEN UP AND SQUARED OFF"

  ACT III - "THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES"

  ACT IV - "HAZE GRAY AND UNDERWAY "

  ACT V - LEGACIES

  ENDNOTES

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  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

  Ambrose, Hugh.

  The Pacific/Hugh Ambrose.

  p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-18584-1

  1. World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area. 2. Marines--United States--Biography. 3. United States. Marine

  Corps--Biography. 4. United States. Marine Corps--History--World War, 1939-1945. I. Pacific (Television program)

  II. Title.

  D767.9.A46 2010

  940.54'59730922--dc22 2009041530

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  STEPHEN E. AMBROSE

  IN MEMORIAM

  1936-2002

  HEY DAD,

  I WAS LUCKY

  TO BE YOUR SON

  AND PROUD

  TO BE YOUR PARTNER.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THE STORY OF HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE WRITTEN BEGINS WITH MY FATHER, the historian Steve Ambrose. He called me in 1992, as I completed the course work for my master's degree in American history, asked if I "could do some research for him," then said the magic words "I'll pay you." In the course of that research, for a book entitled Undaunted Courage, we were both surprised and delighted to find we enjoyed working together. As the years passed and the number and variety of projects increased, my father generously allowed me a greater role as his researcher, agent, and fund- raiser for nonprofits. We had a ball.

  After we completed his book on America's first transcontinental railroad, I suggested a book on the D-days of the Pacific War. It was hardly an original idea, given the enormous success of his book on D-day in Normandy. He said, "Let's do it." In the course of developing a new collection of original stories, our work came to the attention of my father's friend the director Steven Spielberg. Steven was also interested in developing a story on the Pacific War. Working in tandem with this great filmmaker led to a number of exciting and unanticipated developments, chief of which was the documentary Price for Peace. Dad and I were both so proud of our involvement in this film, directed by James Moll.

  When my father became ill, he decided he could not finish a book on the war against Japan. "It's just too big," he said. He asked me to finish it. After he passed away in 2002, I was not sure how I would accomplish such a feat until I received a call from Steven Spielberg in early 2003. Steven and his friends Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman had decided that the Pacific War needed to be told in a manner similar to their miniseries with HBO, Band of Brothers. It needed to be representative of the entire experience and it needed to connect the greatest battles. Steven (through his company DreamWorks) and Tom and Gary (through theirs, Playtone) had engaged the screenwriter Bruce McKenna to develop the story of the war in Japan. I was hired to help Bruce, who had written episodes of Band of Brothers, and his team of writers find the stories for the miniseries. Once again, great good fortune had called me, and I gratefully accepted, with alacrity. We faced a big challenge. The war against Japan was more complex than the one in Europe. All of America's military services played key roles in many different battles in different countries. Finding a narrative thread to connect a representative sampling of those battles was not easy.

  Bruce already had begun to do some reading and spoke to me about two books that he loved: E. B. Sledge's With the Old Breed and Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow. I took this as a good sign. He had identified two of the most important memoirs about the Pacific War. They differed not only in where and when the authors had served, but also in how the men had responded to their experiences. Upon request, I put him in touch with the Sledge family. The Sledges expressed interest in the project and put Bruce in touch with Dr. Sidney Phillips. By the time Bruce called me back, he was ecstatic. Dr. Sidney Phillips had served in the same company with Robert Leckie and was one of Eugene's best friends. Bruce had found a way to connect the first battle in the war with the last battle. Dr. Phillips had already written a splendid memoir of his service entitled You'll Be Sor-ree! The story of John Basilone was added to the mix later, when we found the moment of happenstance that connected John Basilone to Phillips and Leckie. That connection allowed the miniseries to include "Manila John," a unique individual with a different set of important experiences.

  DreamWorks and Playtone brought their vision of a miniseries, covering a vast sweep of the war as seen through the eyes of a few fascinating men, to the only place to realize their vision, HBO. With HBO on board, "the stars had aligned," so far as Bruce and I were concerned. While the show's producers supervised Bruce and his team as they developed the miniseries, I continued to conduct original research on those aspects that needed further illumination. Many other stories were explored during the course of several years
as we strove to leave no stone unturned. Working for the writers and producers of The Pacific has been a fabulous experience for me. Their love for the men and women who served America so magnificently was apparent from the first day. One part of a huge process, I learned so much about storytelling from Steven, Tom, Gary, and Bruce, as well as from other key figures of the project, like Tony To and Tim Van Patten.

  The stories for the miniseries were eventually chosen by the producers. I had, in the meantime, become excited about two other characters, Austin "Shifty" Shofner and Vernon "Mike" Micheel. Although E. B. Sledge mentioned Austin Shofner in his book, I paid Shofner little attention until I came in contact with Colonel Otto Melsa, a veteran himself and a big fan of Shofner. His enthusiasm encouraged me to learn more. Similarly, I wish to thank Arnold Olson, a veteran of USS Enterprise and one of the founders of the Web site www.cv6.org. Olson did not know me from Adam, but he kindly gave me contact information for a number of fascinating navy pilots, including Vernon "Mike" Micheel. The more I learned about Mike and Shifty, the more I felt that their stories fit perfectly with the others. An idea for a companion book began to take shape.

  As a huge fan of Dr. Sidney Phillips, I felt privileged to spend a weekend with him (those of us who are truly blessed get to drink a beer and smoke a cigar with him). At one point in our interview, he mentioned that his friend John Wesley "Deacon" Tatum had kept a daily diary. Mr. Tatum allowed me to use his diary, which is a truly amazing document. It allowed us to tell the story of the Battle of Guadalcanal at a new level of intimacy. For the Basilone story, his niece Diane Hawkins allowed us full access to the Basilone Family Collection of material relating to her uncle. This treasure trove of untapped information, along with the material gathered in the Basilone Reading Room of the Raritan Public Library and the support of Basilone's friends (Richard Greer, Clinton Watters, Chuck Tatum, Barbara Garner, and others), helped us find the real John Basilone. The final pieces of the puzzle came when I visited the Special Collections and Archives of Auburn University. Dwayne Cox and his assistant John Varner were both generous and efficient. The papers of Eugene Sledge revealed more about him and about King Company.

  After all the pieces came together, I saw a new vision for this book. Originally, I had envisioned the companion book to be written similar to the way my father wrote his book D-Day. I would weave together the stories of hundreds of veterans into an organic whole. I had amassed a collection of new research capable of sustaining such a book. In light of the amazing history assembled by the producers and writers of The Pacific, and armed with new research, I decided to try something else. I would use the connections between the veterans to relate key parts of the war not found in the miniseries. For instance, the war could not have been won without the U.S. carrier fleet and its naval aviators. Seeing something of the type of empire that Japan's leadership strove to create was also important. While a book can explore a much larger territory than a ten-hour miniseries, there is still a limit to the number of stories a reader can be expected to track through the vast conflict. To add the battles of Bataan and Midway, therefore, I needed to cut one of the characters depicted in the miniseries. It was a difficult choice. Ultimately I decided that there was relatively little I could add to Leckie's own extraordinary firsthand account and that the loss of Leckie's voice, while unfortunate, would allow the book to remain an effective companion to the miniseries as well as encompass more of the ocean of enmity we call the Pacific War. The vision for this book is more properly described in the following introduction. I would like to thank Steven Spielberg and my friends at Playtone, as well as Kary Antholis and James Costos of HBO for allowing me to deepen The Pacific.

  In all the years of research, I have had so many kind people help me. Time and space, alas, prevent me from mentioning them all. Here is the short version. The families of the four men who had passed away by the time my work began (Basilone, Sledge, Leckie, and Shofner) have helped me immeasurably. I was lucky to interview Phillips and Micheel at length and to have the full cooperation of the Shofner family, particularly Stewart, Alyssa, and William "Wes" Shofner. I would like to express my gratitude to Vera Leckie, Joan Salvas, and the other members of the family of Robert Leckie. They all went to great lengths to help us tell the story of Lucky Leckie in the miniseries. The family of Dr. Eugene Sledge--Mrs. Jeanne Sledge and her sons, John and Henry--extended to Bruce, me, and the rest of the crew every kindness and gave of themselves to help us understand him. I have so enjoyed the time I spent with all of them. I hope that what the veterans and their families read below justifies their faith in me.

  The 1st Marine Division Association provided me with the opportunity to find the men who had served with the five individuals in this book, and the interviews with these men have made all the difference. The United States Marine Corps, whether through its Historical Division or its Motion Picture & TV Liaison Office, has answered many an odd question from me. The Battle of Midway Roundtable (BOMRT), an online conversation between the veterans of Midway, the historians and experts on the battle, and hundreds of fans, taught me a great deal about it. The roundtable continues to extend our knowledge of this critical event in a spirit of cooperation. To me, the BOMRT represents the promise of the Internet fulfilled. I also gratefully acknowledge the help of Judy Johnson, who leads the team of archivists at Georgia Tech; of Hill Goodspeed, a historian with the National Museum of Naval Aviation; and of my good friend Tom Czekanski of the National WWII Museum.

  I would like to thank the President and CEO of The National WWII Museum, Dr. Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller, for allowing me to continue on with the museum on a part-time basis these past few years. I have been the beneficiary of a positive synergy. As I have been able, I have hired people for short periods of time to help with some of the legwork of research.: transcribing interviews, scanning documents and the like. I would like to thank: Julie Mitchell, Kirt Garcia, Rob Lynn, Beth Crumley, Robert Carr, Kristin Paridon, Seth Paridon, Dustin Spence (who found Barbara Garner), David Zeiler, Lacey Middlestead, Jonathan Wlasiuk, Warren Howell, and Kevin Morrow. Dick Beilen of the U.S. Locator Service provided the copies of the military records I needed and is a great guy to work with. I also thank my team of experts: attorney Mike McMahon, accountant Mike Lopach, and agent Brian Lipson, who stuck with me through a lot of lean years.

  The team at Penguin/NAL immediately grasped my idea for the book and supported it enthusiastically. In particular, I offer my thanks to Natalee Rosenstein and Michelle Vega for making every effort to help me succeed.

  A number of friends and acquaintances have helped me in a variety of ways in the long process of writing the book. I would like to thank James Moll for his sage advice. I am grateful to Kristie Macosko for the many kindnesses she has extended to me. I wish to thank my graduate advisor, Dr. Michael Mayer of the University of Montana, who has been such a great teacher and mentor to me. His review of the first half of the manuscript meant a great deal to me. I'd like to thank the historians Colonel Joseph Alexander, Colonel Jon T. Hoffman, Dr. Donald Miller, Augustine Meaher IV, Alf Batchelder, Eric Hammel, Dr. Allan Millett, and Barrett Tillman for allowing me to gain from their knowledge. I would like to thank Barry Zerby of the National Archives and John Heldt, reference librarian for the Lewis and Clark County Library, for speeding me on my way toward the documents. My friend Martin K. A. Morgan, a talented military historian, has helped me in numerous ways, including drawing the small map inserts. My friends John Schuttler and Kate Cholewa each read an early draft of the first section; their advice and encouragement were appreciated. John also did some research for me. Lou Reda of Lou Reda Productions, assisted by Greg Miller, provided me with transcripts of interviews with Eugene Sledge. The volunteers at the National WWII Museum alerted me whenever a veteran of Iwo Jima passed through the door. John Innes, nicknamed "Our Man in Honiara" by Bruce McKenna, has twice taken me across the battlefields of Guadalcanal, which he knows by heart. Tangie Hesus has twice toured me around Peleliu. Chris
Majewski is the "tunnel rat" par excellence who has twice driven me around Okinawa. I also need to thank Commander Jack Hanzlik of the United States Navy, who arranged for Bruce and me to "catch a hook" aboard USS Ronald Reagan, spend an evening with her impressive crew, and catapult off her flight deck the next day. Wow.

  The experiences we had retracing the battles and the research we conducted have left an indelible mark upon all of us involved. The war against Japan, although part of World War II, was distinct from that waged against Germany. America's victory changed the world. It enabled human civilization to advance. Combat in the Pacific exacted a high price from the men who won it. That cost startled us at every turn. We are grateful to all of the men and women who paid it. We endeavor to honor them by presenting as much of their story as we could, as honestly as we could.

  My mother, Moira Buckley Ambrose, read the first draft of the first section of this work. Her encouragement and suggestions meant everything to me. Had she lived to read the full draft, this would be a better book. I treasure my memories of her. May she rest in peace with her beloved husband, Steve.

  I conclude this acknowledgment of my gratitude with the most important person of all, Andrea Ambrose. My beautiful and talented wife is my partner in all things. We made the long journey we call The Pacific together. I am a lucky guy.

  INTRODUCTION

  HUNDREDS OF GREAT BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE PACIFIC WAR. THE majority of these volumes fall into one of three categories: a book about the war in general; a book that illuminates every detail of a single battle or important aspect; or a book by a veteran about his experiences. While all of these have their place in the historiography of such an important event, there is room for one more.