Perspective

The book is a personal memoir, as indicated by the secondary title, and it is presented as such throughout. While a good amount of historical fact is presented, the book nevertheless does not attempt to present an authoritative history of the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. Chapters typically comprise of a recounting of historical facts juxtaposed with the author's personal experiences. Usually, the personal experiences related did not happen at the same time or place as the historical material included in the same chapter—this causes confusion for some readers. The personal experiences are drawn from two main time periods. The dominant set of personal experiences includes the author's military enlistment during World War II, with a focus on his combat experiences on Okinawa. Secondary experiences include the 1970s-era travel the author takes to various Pacific Theater battlefields in an attempt better to understand his...