Amtrac: Amphibious tractor, used to ferry troops in assault landings ashore
AP: Troopship (non-landing)
AVG: American Volunteer Group (the “Flying Tigers” unit in China)
AVT: Aircraft Carrier (Training)
BOGEY: Unidentified (possibly enemy) aircraft
CA: Heavy (armored) Cruiser
CBI: China-Burma-India; an operational area for Allied Forces in WW II
Chutai : Japanese word for “squadron”
CL: Light Cruiser
D-DAY: Day on which an operation is to commence and/or on which troops will depart (Day of Departure). See also H-Hour
ECM: Electric Coding Machine
A top-secret device for encrypting messages
ETA: Estimated time of arrival
GQ: General Quarters (battle stations)
H-HOUR: Time at which an operation is to commence. See also D-Day
HMS: His Majesty’s Ship (designation with ship’s name)
HMAS: His Majesty’s Australian Ship (designation with ship’s name)
HIGGINS BOAT: An amphibious landing craft. See also Amtrac
HIKO : Japanese word for “air” that was generally used in describing something else, such as chutai hiko (air squadron)
KIA: Killed in action
LCC: Landing craft command ship
LCI : Landing Craft Infantry
Capable of carrying up to 200 infantrymen at 216 feet long
LCM: Landing Craft Mechanized
For carrying mechanized equipment
LCT: Landing Craft Tank(s). See also LST
LCVP: Landing craft carrying vehicle(s) and personnel
LCVR: Landing craft carrying vehicle(s), ramped
LHA: Amphibious Assault ship
LST: Landing Ship Tank
At 316 feet long, capable of carrying tanks, troops, and supplies onto a beach in an amphibious assault
MIA: Missing in Action
MOTHER SHIPS: Ordinary ships, usually submarines, that carried so-called “midget” submarines (see SPS) to sites close to their attack objective
OSS: Office of Strategic Services
World War II intelligence agency, forerunner of CIA
PBY: Patrol Bomber aircraft
The “Y” in the designation signifies the manufacturer, Consolidated Aircraft Corp
POW: Prisoner of War
RAF: Royal Air Force (Great Britain)
RENTAI : Japanese word for “regiment”
RISKOSENTAI : Japanese word for Imperial Navy marines
SAR: Search and Rescue
SEABEES: Nickname for CBs (Construction Battalion personnel)
SENTAI: Japanese word for “wing,” as in Sentai Hiko
SORTIE: A single mission flown by a single military aircraft
SPS: Special Purpose Submarine(s)
The “midget” submarines—seventy-eight feet long and six feet high—that were developed by the Japanese for special missions in World War II
SS: Submarine
TBS: Talk Between Ships
Radio used on amphibious assaults
VMF: Designation for USMC Fighter Squadron
USAAC: United States Army Air Corps
World War II predecessor to U.S. Air Force
USS: United States Ship
Abbreviated designation used with ship’s name to identify country of origin
ZERO (AKA ZEKE) : Nickname given by American pilots for the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Reisan (pronounced ray-san) that ruled the skies over the Pacific. A later model of the Zero was nicknamed Zeke.
ZERO WARD: Where wounded, sick, and dying patients were sent when nothing could be done to save them
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in one of his fireside chats to the American people in February 1942, said, “Never before have we had so little time to do so much.”
That’s the way I’ve felt during this past year and a half after agreeing to do a series of books based on my FOX News Channel, War Stories television documentaries. The initial book was based on eyewitness accounts and reports filed while I was embedded with U.S. military units for FOX News from the middle of February through April 2003. Thanks to my producers in New York, my Iraq combat cameraman Griff Jenkins, and my friend Joe Musser, that initial work, War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom, stands as a first draft of history for a war that is still being fought.
For this second book in our series, my publisher asked me to focus on the Pacific theater during World War II. Since none of us involved wanted this to be just another historical review of major battles or key events, we agreed that it must offer the kind of in-depth, first-person observations by participants for which War Stories has been acclaimed.
That proved to be no mean task. It required reviewing hundreds of interviews, thousands of pages of transcripts, and miles of videotape in order to accurately capture the heroic experiences and subsequent reflections of those who fought these terrible battles. It was likewise important that the final product provide a context for their compelling eyewitness observations.
Accomplishing all that in the time available was a goal that could only be achieved with the assistance of those whose help I acknowledge here. It is their commitment and hard work that makes these war stories so compelling—and inspiring.
Foremost among those who made this book possible are the remarkable veterans who agreed to recount their experiences in the Pacific theater. All of us involved in this project have been enriched by their intensely personal recollections. We have all been moved by the way so many of them endured terrible privation, loneliness, fear, and savagery—and yet describe it all simply as “a job that had to be done.”
The participants explain their victories, so critical to the outcome of the war, in a selfless, matter-of-fact way, with modesty and grace. Many told me things that they had never shared before—not even with their wives or children. I am grateful to them for that and grateful for their valor, dedication, and service to our country. These brave Americans are featured in every chapter, and recognized in the epilogue. You will find their names listed there.
My admiration and gratitude also go to my wife and best friend, Betsy, and to our children and their spouses: daughters Sarah and her husband Martin; Tait and her husband Tom; and Dornin; and our son, Stuart and his wife, Ellen. There were all too many times when husband/dad was absent because of an always-impossible schedule, but they continue to show consummate understanding, devotion, and forgiveness.
This book would not have happened but for the team at FOX News led by Roger Ailes. He had the vision to make War Stories a reality and a great success. Kevin Magee, Bill Shine, and John Moody have made it possible for me to hang around with heroes—past and present—so that I can document what they do and have done. Jack Abernethy pays the bills and in between hurricanes, Dianne Brandi tries to keep me out of trouble.
Our War Stories Unit, headed by senior producer Pamela Browne, ensures that every televised documentary is flawless. Pamela personally made certain that the DVDs included in this book illuminate the eyewitness accounts of our participants. Producers Martin Hinton, Greg Johnson, Steve Tierney, Cyd Upson, and Ayse Weiting have all spent countless hours with each of the individuals we interviewed for this work, and in many cases built deeply personal relationships with these heroes and their families. My assistant producers were likewise essential to the success of this work. Kelly Guernica, Jason Kopp, and Bevin Mahoney devoted themselves to finding unique material for each of these heroic stories that otherwise might never have been recorded for posterity, while Michael Weiss mined hundreds of public and private sources for the historical photographs that appear in this book. My appreciation also goes to Peter Bregman for his help on the photo archives at Fox Movietone News, and to Don Brown for his contributions to the timeline.
Joe Musser, my friend, collaborator, and research partner of many years, pored over hours and reams of War Stories tapes, transcripts, maps, and interviews and did months of research in order to pare down mountains of excellent possibilities to a workable outline. Joe also found in David Deis a cartographer of great talent, who rendered the superb maps for each chapter to help readers comprehend the events more easily.
I’m more than grateful for the extraordinary assistance and forbearance of Marji Ross and her team at Regnery Publishing. Editor Miriam Moore and art director Amanda Larsen encouraged me with their patience and faith that this book really could get finished. Their associate, Paula Decker, ably assisted in that effort.
This book, a collaboration between FOX News Channel and Regnery Publishing, could never have come about but for the work of Williams & Connelly, where Bob Barnett and Kathleen Ryan dotted all the “i”s and crossed every “t” in all the requisite documents.
All who have worked on this project are indebted to the authors, historians, museum directors, and curators who have participated in our Pacific campaign War Stories documentaries. Helen McDonald, at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas, deserves more than thanks for all she has done to support this work. We have also been aided in this effort by the wisdom and experience of:
In order to even attempt such a project as this book without the help of all these people would have been foolhardy on my part, and I bow to these dedicated experts and friends who have made such worthy contributions to this work.
Semper Fidelis,
Oliver L. North