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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More than a well-written war yarn,
By
This review is from: Across the Dark Islands: The War in the Pacific (Mass Market Paperback)
"Across the Dark Islands" seems to have been completed by 1984 but was not published until after Floyd Radike's death. No wonder. This is one of the harsher indictments of Army incompetence and dishonesty to come out of World War II.
In addition to that, it is a finely-crafted, too brief memoir of a platoon leader's three campaigns in Guadalcanal, New Georgia and Luzon. Radike was a National Guardsman (apparently originally in a Michigan outfit, later in California) who went through OCS shortly before Pearl Harbor. He ended up in the 1st Battalion, 161st Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. (Not the 37th, as one sloppy reviewer in a military publication has it.) The 25th was a wartime incarnation of the old Hawaiian Division, a Regular outfit, but the 161st was a Washington National Guard unit. Radike was a double outsider -- the Regulars weren't going to let the Guard get ahead, and the Washington Guard officers formed, he says, a tight clique. The result of this careerism and militia incompetence was needlessly dead young GIs. Radike is scathing in his criticism, but this, the most important part of the book, is ignored by all the published reviews I have been able to find, which have been in military specialist magazines (mostly of the yahoo blood and guts variety). Too bad. "Across the Dark Islands" deserves more and more thoughtful attention than it has gotten. The book is particularly valuable because Radike tells what he knows of the American regiment that turned tail and ran on New Georgia. The 161st was attached to the 37th Division to plug this hole. According to Radike, the story of the panic-stricken regiment of the 37th (which he calls X Regiment) is not included in the Army's official histories, and even the name of that regiment has been suppressed. The Navy knew, though, and while details are made available here that have been lacking in the naval histories, the disgraceful slowness, confusion and incompetence of the Munda campaign are sketched out in the naval histories. Radike's is, however, the closest to an eyewitness account I have discovered. On a more personal level, "Across the Dark Islands" would be a wonderful gift for any young infantry officer or enlisted man. Radike, who eventually became a one-star in the Michigan National Guard, was a thoughtful officer, and there's more here about how to lead and fight a platoon than in a stack of Field Manuals. Last but not least, Radike, a teacher in civilian life, is a graceful and careful writer. All in all, the book is a pleasure to read, a valuable if small contribution to Pacific War history and a cautionary tale that our 21st century higher command ought to become familiar with: the stupidity that Radike had to live with in 1942-45 is still killing young GIs in 2006.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
reads like you're right there with the author,
By
This review is from: Across the Dark Islands (Hardcover)
i couldn't put this book down. the author gives a very graphic & detailed account of the war in the pacific. what i found idelible, was the authors desciption of the whole setting of the war. it was as clear and detailed as the moment he had experienced them.
the WWII generation was truly the most extraordinary generation of americans, complaining very little, & offering everything to their country for a better and safer future. to hear their experiences in their own words, is a truly invaluable.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The side of war that isn't often talked about.,
By
This review is from: Across the Dark Islands (Hardcover)
Across the Dark is Brigadier General Radike's descriptions of his own personal experience of World War II where he was in the National Guard and was involved in many of the combats in the Pacific (NOTE: he was not a Brigadier General during the war).
Radike is very specific in his opinions of the way the situations he was involved in were handled and he doesn't hold anything back so he is quick to point at flaws of the US Military, but he does try to be fair in pointing out the things that are done right. While reading this I got the feeling that this was written during the war or immediately after because it sounds very simliar to the way a lot of people complain about their current companies. I also came to that conclusion since this was not published until after his death, almost as if he didn't want to publish it, but who knows. With that criticism in place, I thought this was a very well written book that helps to explain the parts of war that are not always advertised. Most of us have heard about Iwo Jima or Normandy, but not many people have heard about the events that took place on all of the other Pacific Islandsd and he does a great job of explaining all of the obstacles that had to be overcome and the lack of knowledge that soldiers often had to deal with such as landing on an island and not having a map available. The one thing I really wish would have been included would have been an introduction or prologue by Radike describing his thoughts on everything after making it to the ranking of Brigadier General and having that much more experience under his belt. It would have been truly interesting to see how his thoughts might have changed if at all.
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