Library Journal
The story of the Battle of Iwo Jima is well known, especially with the attention it received on its 60th anniversary in 2005 and the publication then of several fine studies (e.g., James Bradley and Ron Powers's Flags of Our Fathers), not to mention Clint Eastwood's two recent films. Now best-selling author Smith (Beyond Glory) has amassed a superb collection of 22 oral histories from Iwo Jima veterans, including two Medal of Honor winners, a Navajo "Code-Talker," the last surviving flag raiser from the first flag raising on Mount Suribachi, a war correspondent, and an African American marine who served in an ammo company. These veterans make for a good mix of officers and enlisted men. In his introductions and follow-ups to their memories, Smith discusses the controversy surrounding the flag raisings (whether posed or genuine, etc.), the fate of Japanese commander Kuribayashi, and the ultimate fate of the island itself, among other topics. In spite of the extensive literature on Iwo Jima, this is a unique and compelling book; strongly recommended for all collections. (Photos not seen.)
—David Lee Poremba
Kirkus Reviews
Veterans tell personal stories of the iconic 1945 island battle. In his third oral-history collection, veteran journalist Smith (The Few and the Proud: Marine Corps Drill Instructors in Their Own Words, 2006) interviewed 22 retired soldiers, all over the age of 80. Readers accustomed to today's wars, in which a single American death makes headlines, may recoil at the mass slaughter these men witnessed. Several marine flamethrowers relate the gruesome mechanics of their specialty. A surviving medic (nearly 200 died) reveals the equally horrific duties that won him a Medal of Honor. A sailor who participated in minesweeping before his ship's landing recalls how, despite never touching shore, dozens of his shipmates died. An operations officer describes the weeks during which almost all his fellow officers and friends fell. Perhaps the most moving subject is Samuel Tso, a Navajo from a poor family who never saw them during four years at a government high school in which officials forced students to speak only English. Drafted into the legendary code-talkers, he and his fellow tribesmen used the formerly forbidden Navajo language as a secure method of communication between units during battle. Several crewmen describe missions during which an emergency landing on Iwo saved their lives. Since each veteran summarizes his life history, readers will learn what it was like to grow up in Depression-era America, when nearly everyone struggled. Thankfully, all of the stories contained here have happy endings. Exemplary oral history.
Booklist
"Smith has cast his net widely and generated interviews with a wide range of veterans, so his book affords a broader-than-usual view of the battle…Eminently readable and historiographically useful"
Walter Anderson
"Page after page of compelling stories unfold in Larry Smith’s brilliant oral history, Iwo Jima. The tales of valor and humanity, as told by veterans of the battle, reveal the magnitude of their remarkable accomplishment during this pivotal campaign of the Pacific war. This is neither a statistical account nor a mere catalog of the ships. Rather, it is a dramatic portrait of ordinary men confronting and surviving extraordinary events, all in their own words."
James Brady
"A superb reporter revisits Iwo Jima through the men who actually fought there and how they remembered their time in Hell."
Jack Jacobs
"Nobody can get warriors to share their heroic stories better than Larry Smith."
Jay Winik
"Iwo Jima is by turns poignant and powerful, inspiring and sobering. This is a superb and fascinating work by one of our nation’s leading oral historians."
From the Publisher
"This audiobook is a must for all WWII aficionados." ---AudioFile
MARCH 2009 - AudioFile
Dick Hill takes listeners back nearly 64 years to February 19, 1945, and the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima, a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific occupied by the Japanese. Hill is more than up to the challenge of portraying the memories and varying accents of 22 survivors of one of the costliest battles of WWII, a battle that claimed nearly 22,000 Japanese and 7,000 American lives. Enhancing the listening experience even more is Hill's exacting grasp of a Japanese accent. Author Larry Smith does an exceptional job of weaving the personal memories of the heroic veterans and factual nuggets—either previously unreported or unknown—on the battle itself. This audiobook is a must for all WWII aficionados. J.P.D. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
