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Saul David - Devil Dogs: King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines: From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan

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Devil Dogs: King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines: From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan: summary, description and annotation

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Award-winning historian Saul David reveals the searing experience of the Devil Dogs of World War II and does for the U.S. Marines what Band of Brothers did for the 101st Airborne.
The Devil Dogs of King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marinespart of the legendary 1st Marine Divisionwere among the first American soldiers to take the offensive in World World IIand also the last.
They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942the first US ground offensive of the warand were present when Okinawa, Japans most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the Green Hell of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one King Company veteran as thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.
Ordinary men from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns, and settlements across America, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army, composed of some of the most effective, utterly ruthless and treacherous soldiers in world historyand defeat it. This is the story of how they did just that and, in the process, forged bonds of brotherhood that still survive today.
Remarkably, the company contained an unusually high number of talented writers, whose first-hand accounts and memoirs provide the color, emotion, and context for this extraordinary story. In Devil Dogs, award-winning historian Saul David sets the searing experience of the Devil Dogs into the broader context of the brutal war in the Pacific and does for the U.S. Marines what Band of Brothers did for the 101st Airborne.

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Saul David Devil Dogs King Company Third Battalion 5th Marines From - photo 1

Saul David

Devil Dogs

King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines

From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan

For Piran Illustrations - photo 2

For Piran

Illustrations
Devil Dogs King Company Third Battalion 5th Marines From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan - photo 3
Foreword By W Henry Sledge R icha - photo 4
Foreword By W Henry Sledge R ichard Frank Pacific War historian recently - photo 5
Foreword By W Henry Sledge R ichard Frank Pacific War historian recently - photo 6
Foreword By W Henry Sledge R ichard Frank Pacific War historian recently - photo 7
Foreword By W. Henry Sledge

R ichard Frank, Pacific War historian, recently asked if I had heard of the forthcoming book by Saul David, called Devil Dogs. It is about my fathers unit K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division and its journey across the Pacific in World War II. I had not, but I am always happy to hear of any upcoming scholarship concerning the Pacific War. The fact that it follows K/3/5 all the way through the war makes it even better. Rich said, I think you would really like it. Sledgehammer is a central character throughout the second half of the book. Would you like to read the manuscript? Im sure Saul would love for you to.

Saul sent me the manuscript and I lost no time in diving in. One of the very compelling things about this book was not just that my father had a key role in a significant portion. It was the fact that it covers K/3/5s entire World War II experience, and therefore contextualizes things in a new way. My interest in Pacific War history goes far beyond my fathers well-known story. One of the first war books I read as an adolescent was Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. It was the copy that my father had read as he was deeply enmeshed in writing what was to become his own story, the classic With the Old Breed. That was only the beginning of what has become a lifelong fascination with the subject of the US Marines in World War II. I was familiar with, for example, Guadalcanal, but it was from the perspective of Robert Leckie and the 1st Marines. I was also very familiar with the fighting at Alligator Creek and Colonel Ichikis regiment crossing the sandspit, but, again, it was from the perspective of the 1st Marines. As I bonded over the years with my fathers story and came to know K/3/5, I wondered, Where were they during the fighting for Alligator Creek?

Devil Dogs addresses the question of what K Company was up to during so many iconic Pacific War battles, where extant written work focuses on other units. Saul David has dug deep and done his research here. Not only does he make good use of published classic material like George McMillans The Old Breed, and Garand and Strobridges History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, he skilfully interweaves this with more personal material such as carefully selected quotes from the archival letters of Eugene Sledge. Therefore, one gets the feeling that, rather than merely reading a reinterpretation of already published material with nothing new to add, one is reading a fresh interpretation of established scholarship on the subject, with the added benefit of an intimate view of the central characters. The result is excellent; a book that puts you in the foxholes, in the gun pits, and in the thick of the action with the Marines of K/3/5. Devil Dogs will go the distance and serve as a solid companion piece to books like With the Old Breed, a vital resource for the reader who wants to learn the panoply of K Companys World War II experience.

Bluff Park, AL 2021

Introduction

T he Devil Dogs of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (K/3/5) part of the legendary 1st Marine Division, the Old Breed were among the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in World War II, and also among the last. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the British Solomon Islands in August 1942 the first US ground offensive of the war and were present when Okinawa, Japans most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the Green Hell of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one K/3/5 veteran as thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.

Their story encapsulates the American experience in the Pacific: from the shock of the surprise Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, that brought the United States into the war and encouraged many of the men who would fight in K Company to enlist in the first place; through the brutal recruit training regime in the Marine boot camps at Parris Island, South Carolina, and San Diego, California; to the hurried deployment to the Pacific and the shock of their first taste of combat against a formidable foe; and, for the lucky ones, a blissful period of rest and recuperation in Australia before they were pitched back into the maelstrom in Cape Gloucester in late 1943, Peleliu in late 1944 and Okinawa in the spring of 1945, with only brief periods of recovery in between on the barren island of Pavuvu. Poised that summer to take part in the invasion of Japan proper an operation that US military chiefs expected to cost at least a million casualties they were saved by the news that Truman had dropped two atomic bombs and Japan had surrendered.

No US Marine fought in all the Old Breeds battles, because they were typically rotated home after two years of overseas service and/or two campaigns (though some stayed on for three). The wartime adventures of K Company are told, therefore, through the eyes of some of its most interesting characters officers and enlisted men whose service overlapped. Ordinary people from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns and settlements across the United States, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army, composed of some of the most effective, utterly ruthless and treacherous soldiers in world history, and beat it. This is the story of how they did that while, in the process, creating a brother-hood that remained for the rest of their lives. One veteran wrote:

Up there, on the line, with nothing between us and the enemy but space (and precious little of that), wed forged a bond that time would never erase. We were brothers. I left with a sense of loss and sadness, but K/3/5 will always be a part of me.

Its ironic that the record of our company was so outstanding but that so few individuals were decorated for bravery. Uncommon valor was displayed so often it went largely unnoticed. It was expected. But nearly every man in the company was awarded the Purple Heart

War is brutish, inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors were my comrades incredible bravery and their devotion to each other. Marine Corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive. But it also taught us loyalty to each other and love. That esprit de corps sustained us.

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