Islands of the Damned

<b>A remarkable eyewitness account of the most brutal combat of the Pacific War from Peleliu to Okinawa this is the true story of R.V. Burgin the real-life World War II Marine Corps hero featured in HBO(R)'s <i>The Pacific</i>. <p/>Read his story and marvel at the man...and those like him.--Tom Hanks<br></b> <br>When a young Texan named R.V. Burgin joined the Marines 1942 he never imagined what was waiting for him a world away in the Pacific. There amid steamy jungles he encountered a ferocious and desperate enemy in the Japanese engaging them in some of the most grueling and deadly fights of the war. <p/> In this remarkable memoir Burgin reveals his life as a special breed of Marine. Schooled by veterans who had endured the cauldron of Guadalcanal Burgin's company soon confronted snipers repulsed jungle ambushes encountered abandoned corpses of hara-kiri victims and warded off howling banzai attacks as they island-hopped from one bloody battle to the next. In his two years at war Burgin rose from a green private to a seasoned sergeant fighting from New Britain through Peleliu and on to Okinawa where he earned a Bronze Star for valor. <p/> With unforgettable drama and an understated elegance Burgin's gripping narrative stands alongside those of classic Pacific chroniclers like Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge--indeed Burgin was even Sledge's platoon sergeant. Here is a deeply moving account of World War II bringing to life the hell that was the Pacific War.