Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines’ day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod’s columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod’s reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

Biographies & Memoirs

Sears, David

Boomhower, Ray E.

Madison, James H.

Johnson, Owen V.

Leaders & Notable People

Indiana University Press

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines’ day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod’s columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod’s reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

Often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time that huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story.
This moving tale uses personal accounts of the veterans who achieved victory in the biggest and last great naval battle, largely fought with aging ships, untested reserve crews, and teenaged combat aircraft pilots. Often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf could have been the Pacific War's Battle of the Bulge. In a space of 12 hours, Japan, a beaten, cornered enemy, was able to devise and execute a strategy that very nearly pierced the heart of America's war machine. The real margin of victory would come from surprising quarters: from aging ships risen from the graveyard of the war's infamous first day; from small, hastily constructed ships with largely untested reserve crews; from fragile support ships never intended to be anywhere near battles of this scale; and from combat aircraft piloted by teenagers.

The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf

History

Military

Praeger

In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little known aspect of America's stalemated war: navy aviators. His research inspired novel about these pilots became an overnight bestseller and, perhaps, the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat.
Using Michener's notes, author David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to tell their riveting, true-life stories. From the icy, windswept decks of aircraft carriers, they penetrated treacherous mountain terrain to strike heavily defended dams, bridges, and tunnels, where well entrenched Communist anti-aircraft gunners waited to shoot them down. Many of these men became air combat legends, and one, Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon.
Such Men As These brims with action-packed accounts of combat and unforgettable portraits of the pilots whose skill and sacrifice made epic history.

Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea

Americas

Da Capo Press

Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan

In a grand sweeping narrative, Pacific Air tells the inspiring story of how, despite initial disastrous defeats, a generation of young naval aviators challenged and ultimately vanquished a superior Japanese air force and fleet in the Pacific. The instruments of the United States aviators' triumphs were the elegantly designed F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, as well as the lethal TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. With superbly trained U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators at their controls, these planes became the most successful aerial weapons in naval history.
A majestic portrait of a proud era from dual perspectives--the inventive minds of young aeronautical engineers and the deadly artistry of even younger combat pilots--Pacific Air brings this important yet underappreciated chapter of World War II vividly to life.

In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little-known aspect of America’s stalemated war: Navy aviators. His research-inspired, bestselling novel became perhaps the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener’s notes, author David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to tell their riveting true stories. The result, Such Men As These, brims with action-packed accounts of combat, from the icy, windswept decks of aircraft carriers to the treacherous skies over Korea, while providing unforgettable portraits of the pilots whose skill and sacrifice made epic history.

Pacific Air tells the exhilarating, inspiring story of a generation of young naval aviators who, despite initial disastrous defeats, would ultimately vanquish a superior Japanese air force and fleet in the Pacific. From the dual perspectives of dauntless young combat pilots and the inventive aeronautical engineers who perfected their aircraft, Pacific Air brings an important yet underappreciated chapter of World War II vividly to life.

By October, 1944, Japan's once-mighty naval power was almost extinguished. But in one last desperate bid, the Japanese gathered and combined their forces to defeat the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy. With more ships engaged than there were even in the gargantuan World War I Battle of Jutland-and 200,000 men fighting on the sea and in the air- the Battle of Leyte Gulf was a hellish cacophony of cannon fire, murderous strafing airplanes, and deadly explosions. Here, in the words of the men who were there, are the dramatic accounts of what really happened at Leyte. Though often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements, such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was, and remains, the largest battle in the history of naval warfare.

The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices From Leyte Gulf

Dutton Caliber

For many Jews and non-Jews, the Torah, the Talmud and other rabbinic writings have long been interpreted as saying that the Jews alone are God's chosen people. According to Sears, The Path of the Baal Shem Tov, such readings have led to a struggle among Jews between assimilation―losing their particular Jewish identity―and withdrawal―preserving their particular Jewish identity and surviving as a people. Sears contends that this struggle between particularism and universalism is often misguided, for he argues that the particularism of Judaism engenders a "model of spirituality and moral refinement that will inspire the rest of the world to turn to God of its own accord." In order to demonstrate the depth from which Judaism speaks in a universalistic voice, Sears collects a wide range of sources from a number of periods in Jewish history. In the section on "Judaism and Non-Jews," the Talmudic teaching of Rabbi Yochanan, "Whoever speaks wisdom, although he is a non-Jew, is a sage," urges respect for the wisdom of other traditions. In the section on "The Chosen People," two Midrash passages demonstrate the idea of Israel as spiritual model: "God gave the Torah to the Jewish people so that all nations might benefit by it"; "Just as the [sacrifice of the dove] atones for transgression, Israel atones for the nations of the world." Finally, in a section on "Messianic Vision," Sears argues that Jewish writings state that it is the Messiah's primary task to return the "entire world" to God and God's teachings. Sears's extensive sourcebook is a rich collection of primary writings on the role of compassion in the Jewish tradition. (Sept.) ―Publisher's Weekly

Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition

Religion & Spirituality

Judaism

Jason Aronson, Inc.

A Main Selection of the Military Book Club and a Featured Alternate of the History Book ClubIn the last days of World War II, a new and baffling weapon terrorized the United States Navy in the Pacific. To the sailors who learned to fear them, the body-crashing warriors of Japan were known as suiciders; among the Japanese, they were named for a divine wind that once saved the home islands from invasion: kamikaze. Told from the perspective of the men who endured this horrifying tactic, At War with the Wind is the first book to recount in nail-biting detail what it was like to experience an attack by Japanese kamikazes. David Sears, acclaimed author of The Last Epic Naval Battle, draws on personal interviews and unprecedented research to create a narrative of war that is stunning in its vivid re-creations. Born of desperation in the face of overwhelming material superiority, suicide attacks by aircraft, submarines, small boats, and even manned rocket-boosted gliders were capable of inflicting catastrophic damage, testing the resolve of officers and sailors as never before. Sears s gripping account focuses on the vessels whose crews experienced the full range of the kamikaze nightmare. From carrier USS St. Lo, the first U.S. Navy vessel sunk by an orchestrated kamikaze attack, to USS Henrico, a transport ship that survived the landings at Normandy only to be sent to the Pacific and struck by suicide planes off Okinawa, and USS Mannert L. Abele, the only vessel sunk by a rocket-boosted piloted glider during the war, these unforgettable stories reveal, as never before, one of the most horrifying and misunderstood chapters of World War II. 
This is the candid story of a war within a war a relentless series of furious and violent engagements pitting men determined to die against men determined to live. Its echoes resonate hauntingly at a time of global conflict, when suicide as a weapon remains a perplexing and terrifying reality. 
November 1, 1945 Leyte Gulf 
The destroyer Killen (DD-593) was besieged, shooting down four planes, but taking a bomb hit from a fifth. Pharmacist mate Ray Cloud, watching from the fantail, saw the plane a sleek twin-engine Frances fighter-bomber swoop in low across the port side. As its pilot released his bomb, Cloud said to himself, He dropped it too soon, and then watched as the plane roared by pursued and chewed up by fire from Killen's 40- and 20-mm guns. 
The bomb hit the water, skipped once and then penetrated Killen's port side hull forward, exploding between the #2 and #3 magazines. The blast tore a gaping hole in Killen's side and water poured in. By the time Donice Copeland, eighteen, a radar petty officer, emerged on deck from the radar shack, the ship's bow was practically submerged and the ship itself was nearly dead in the water. 
Practically all the casualties were awash below decks. Two unwounded sailors, trapped below in the ship's emergency generator room, soon drowned. The final tally of dead eventually climbed to fifteen.

At War With The Wind: The Epic Struggle with Japan's World War II Suicide Bombers

Citadel Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sears, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sears, David

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sears, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf

Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea

Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan

Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea

Pacific Air: How Fearless Flyboys, Peerless Aircraft, and Fast Flattops Conquered the Skies in the War with Japan

The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices From Leyte Gulf

Compassion for Humanity in the Jewish Tradition

At War With The Wind: The Epic Struggle with Japan's World War II Suicide Bombers