Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific

Burgin, R. V.; Marvel, Bill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451229908 ISBN 13: 9780451229908

Publisher: Nal Caliber, 2010

Watch author RV Burgin discuss Islands of the Damned and The Pacific.

See R.V. Burgin in the award winning documentary film Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific. Click here for more information.

This is an eyewitness-and eye-opening-account of some of the most savage and brutal fighting in the war against Japan, told from the perspective of a young Texan who volunteered for the Marine Corps to escape a life as a traveling salesman. R.V. Burgin enlisted at the age of twenty, and with his sharp intelligence and earnest work ethic, climbed the ranks from a green private to a seasoned sergeant. Along the way, he shouldered a rifle as a member of a mortar squad. He saw friends die-and enemies killed. He saw scenes he wanted to forget but never did-from enemy snipers who tied themselves to branches in the highest trees, to ambushes along narrow jungle trails, to the abandoned corpses of hara kiri victims, to the final howling banzai attacks as the Japanese embraced their inevitable defeat.

An unforgettable narrative of a young Marine in combat, Islands of the Damned brings to life the hell that was the Pacific War.

Review:

R.V. Burgin is one of those American boys who became a Marine no small feat. He then went across the Pacific, returning home to Jewett, Texas only after helping to save the world. Read his story and marvel at the man... and those like him. Tom Hanks, Oscar-winning Actor and Star of Saving Private Ryan, Executive Producer of Band of Brothers and The Pacific
An honest, straightforward memoir by an honest, straightforward man. Burgin has written an unforgettable, moving description of his experiences as an infantry Marine, from New Britain to Okinawa. The result is a classic combat account. I highly recommend this book. John C. McManus, Author ofThe Dead and Those About to Dieand September Hope
[A] well-written, excellently detailed personal narrative.... A taut, engrossing, haunting book. The Dallas Morning News"

"R.V. Burgin is one of those American boys who became a Marine--no small feat. He then went across the Pacific, returning home to Jewett, Texas only after helping to save the world. Read his story and marvel at the man... and those like him."--Tom Hanks, Oscar-winning Actor and Star of Saving Private Ryan, Executive Producer of Band of Brothers and The Pacific

"An honest, straightforward memoir by an honest, straightforward man. Burgin has written an unforgettable, moving description of his experiences as an infantry Marine, from New Britain to Okinawa. The result is a classic combat account. I highly recommend this book."--John C. McManus, Author of The Dead and Those About to Die and September Hope

"[A] well-written, excellently detailed personal narrative...Time is thinning the ranks of America's Pacific War veterans. But Islands of the Damned is a taut, engrossing, haunting book that will help keep their accomplishments and enormous sacrifices alive."--Dallas Morning News

About the Author:

As a Marine in World War II, R.V. Burgin was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
William Marvel is a retired features writer for the Dallas Morning News.