Grown Gray in War: The Len Maffioli Story - Softcover

Bruce H. Norton; Len Maffioli

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9780804115995: Grown Gray in War: The Len Maffioli Story

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804115990 ISBN 13: 9780804115995

Publisher: Ivy Books, 1997

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ONE MARINE'S THIRTY-THREE YEARS OF SERVICE FOR CORPS AND COUNTRY

Len Maffioli was only eighteen when he stormed Saipan on D-Day in 1944. Shortly after that he was involved in combat operations on Tinian and Iwo Jima. And that was just the beginning of a long and distinguished career.

In the 1950s came the Korean War, with Maffioli participating in the amphibious landing at Inchon, the retaking of Seoul, and the ill-fated Task Force Drysdale, where he was captured by the Chinese Communist Forces and endured icy prison camp conditions so appalling that four out of ten POWs died. Yet Maffioli not only survived, he escaped and earned himself the Bronze Star. Seventeen years later, Maffioli was still going strong, weathering the Tet Offensive during his third war, a twelve-month tour of Vietnam.

From Iwo Jima to the Chosin Reservoir to Da Nang, Maffioli exemplifies the guts and courage that have made the U.S. Marine a legend among warriors.

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From the Back Cover:

During his thirty-three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Len Maffioli saw combat in World War II, the Korean War, and the war in Vietnam. And he was one of eighteen Marines who participated in the only successful organized escape from a Chinese Communist POW camp during the Korean War. But his moving story is not just that of a Marine grown gray in war. It is also that of an eyewitness to the historic evolution of the Corps from an amphibious landing force, through the crucibles of modern warfare in Korea and Vietnam and the resulting challenges to morale and discipline, to a multidimensional, integrated warfighting force. Readers share Maffioli's dreams - and his worst nightmare. His ill-fated task force (Drysdale) is ambushed at Korea's infamous Chosin Reservoir, where Maffioli and hundreds of American and British soldiers are taken prisoner. In graphic detail, Maffioli describes his six months in Chinese POW camps, including Kanggye, where attempts were made to reeducate and indoctrinate American prisoners.

About the Author:

Major Bruce H. Norton is the author of Force Recon Diary, 1969, and Force Recon Diary, 1970. He is the coauthor of One Tough Marine and Sergeant Major, U.S. Marines. He is currently researching Stingray, a history of Marine reconnaissance missions conducted during the Vietnam War. He lives in San Diego, California.

Since his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps in March 1979, Master Gunnery Serageant Len Maffioli has been active in several Marine Corps veterans associations. During 1985 to 1989 he personally placed and dedicated monuments on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima--the four Pacific Islands on which the 4th Marine Division fought during World War II. He is an active member of the Chosin Few, a group of survivors of the Chosin Reservoir campaign of November-December 1950. He has also been active in American MIA/POW affairs. He and his wife, Donna, live in Southern California.

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