Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War - Hardcover

Petty, Bruce M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786409916 ISBN 13: 9780786409914

Publisher: McFarland Publishing, 2001

Synopsis

The battle for Saipan is remembered as one of the bloodiest battles fought in the Pacific during World War II, and was the turning point on the road to the defeat of Japan and the end of the war. The island was a blaze of fire and steel for over three weeks in the summer of 1944. Visible reminders of the devastation still exist-one can find human remains scattered on the jungle floor or in caves throughout the island. Emotional reminders still exist as well, for both the soldiers and the civilians who survived the battle. In this work, the survivors of Saipan-including Pacific Islanders on whose land the Americans and Japanese fought their war-have the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. The author introduces the volume with a history of Saipan and arranges the oral histories by location: Saipan, Yap and Tinian, Rota, Palau Islands, and Guam.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

The battle for Saipan was one of the bloodiest fought in the Pacific during World War II, and was a turning point on the road to Japan's defeat. Visible reminders of the 1944 devastation still exist: human skeletal remains are still found on the jungle floor and in caves throughout the island. Emotional reminders exist as well, for both the combatants and the civilians who survived the battle. In this work, the survivors--including Pacific Islanders on whose land the Americans and Japanese fought their war--have the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. The author begins with a history of the Mariana Islands and other parts of Micronesia and arranges the oral histories by location: Saipan, Yap and Tinian, Rota, Palau Islands, and Guam in the first half, and by branch of service in the second half.

About the Author

Bruce M. Petty worked as a nuclear medicine technologist for fifteen years before moving to Saipan in 1995 to research this book. Five years later, he moved back to his home in Fairfield, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland Publishing
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0786409916
• ISBN 13: 9780786409914
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 216