MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 03533cam a22003134a 4500
001 5321040
005 20221110015908.0
008 041201t20052005nyuabcf b 001 0deng
010 $a 2004065316
020 $a0743260090
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm57236282
035 $a(NNC)5321040
035 $a5321040
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dC#P$dOrLoB-B
042 $apcc
043 $aa-ja---$an-us---
050 00 $aD767.99.P4$bS66 2005
082 00 $a940.54/266$222
100 1 $aSloan, Bill,$d1935-$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84203968
245 10 $aBrotherhood of heroes :$bthe Marines at Peleliu, 1944 : the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War /$cBill Sloan.
260 $aNew York :$bSimon & Schuster,$c[2005], ©2005.
300 $a386 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates :$billustrations, maps, portraits ;$c25 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 365-368) and index.
520 1 $a"Between September 15 and October 15, 1944, the First Marine Division suffered more than 6,500 casualties fighting on a hellish little coral island in the Pacific. Peleliu was the scene of one of the most savage no-quarter struggles of modern times, one that has been all but forgotten - until now. Drawing on extensive interviews with Marine veterans, Bill Sloan follows a small group of young Americans through this incredibly vicious campaign and rescues their heroism on Peleliu from obscurity." "Misled by faulty intelligence, the 9,000 Marine infantrymen who landed on Peleliu's beaches under withering enemy fire found themselves facing 11,000 Japanese embedded in an intricate network of caves and underground fortifications unrivaled in the history of warfare. At the heart of the Japanese defensive system was a maze of sheer cliffs and deep ravines known collectively as the Umurbrogol plateau. Endless strings of ridges bristled with concealed artillery, mortars, machine guns, and riflemen, making every inch of contested ground a potential death trap for Marines." "Bill Sloan's narrative weaves together the experiences of the men who were there, producing a tableau of the twenty-four-hour-a-day nightmare of Peleliu - a melee of nonstop infantry attacks, ferocious hand-to-hand fighting, night assaults, and exhausting forced marches in temperatures that topped 115 degrees. With casualties in some infantry units averaging more than sixty percent, Peleliu ranks with the bloodiest battles in the Corps' history. Exemplifying these staggering losses was K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment (K/3/5), on whose gallant officers and enlisted men the narrative focuses from the initial assault on the beaches to the horrific struggle for the Umurbrogol's crags and crevices." "Surprisingly, Peleliu received little public notice back in the States even as it was being fought and was virtually forgotten after the war, despite elements of controversy that are still debated by military strategists today. The invasion was ordered by Army General Douglas MacArthur to protect his flank as he launched his campaign to recapture the Philippines. But many experts believed then - and still maintain today - that the bloodshed at Peleliu was needless and that the island could have been safely bypassed."--BOOK JACKET.
650 0 $aPeleliu, Battle of, Palau, 1944.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85099258
610 10 $aUnited States.$bMarine Corps$xHistory$yWorld War, 1939-1945.
852 00 $bglx$hD767.99.P4$iS66 2005