Fragments of War: A Marine's Personal Journey
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
A World War II marine officer who survived three major campaigns in the Pacific offers an authentic and compelling picture of tank warfare in this chronicle of his experiences. From the grueling combat in the rain forest of Bougainville to the fierce assault on Guam and the vicious struggle for Iwo Jima, Bertram Yaffe balances the realities of combat with personal reflections on the nature of humanity and courage under horrifying circumstances.
With wry humor he takes us inside the mind of a young tank officer wrestling with the concept of war and his own need to square rationalism with an intuitive, sometimes mystical, view of reality. As a result, Yaffe shares with us the meditations and avenues of contemplation that helped him survive the grotesque experience of war and cope with the stress that so often follows extreme battlefield ordeals. Central to his ability to deal with these problems, we learn, were his deep feelings for his wife and the important family bonds their marriage helped restore--their Russian-Jewish grandfathers were brothers separated during the Russo-Japanese War.
With this multilayered fabric as a backdrop, Yaffe puts the reader in the center of artillery and mortar storms, in the path of a sake-crazed Japanese attack, aboard an LST during a kamikaze raid, and beside tank crews rescuing besieged marines at Cushman's Pocket--men whose bravery prompted Admiral Nimitz to proclaim that "among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue." Yaffe's success at weaving these fragments into a deeply considered and compelling picture of war in the Pacific makes this a book with broad general appeal that can withstand the close scrutiny of Marine Corps veterans.
From the Publisher
Fragments of War has received exceptional praise from a distinguished group of senators, nationally syndicated columnists and World War II authors.
Fragments of War: A Marine's Personal Journey
Fragments of War: A Marine's Personal Journey,Bertram A. Yaffe,Naval Institute Press,1557509794,1920-,Biography,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,Campaigns,History,Marines,Military,Military - Naval,Naval History - World War II,Pacific Area,Personal narratives, American,Soldiers,United States,World War, 1939-1945,Yaffe, Bertram A.,,Yaffe, Bertram A
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