Battling for Saipan [Paperback]

Francis A. O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2003

When Lt. Gen. Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith and his V Amphibious Corps were preparing for the invasion of the Marianas -- Guam, Tinian, and Saipan -- they were expecting an easy fight. The Japanese appeared to be on the run. As D day for Saipan, the first of the three islands scheduled for conquest, loomed, V Corps operational planners felt safe in allocating a single division to serve as reserve for all three invasions. The initial landings of the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions ran into fierce opposition, however, forcing General Smith to commit the army's 27th Infantry Division (the entire corps's reserve starting) that first night. Among the soldiers landing on Saipan was Lt. Col. William O'Brien. The exploits of O'Brien and his battalion were amazing, including the award of the Medal of Honor to battalion commander O'Brien. Their story makes for inspiring and exciting reading.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891418040
• ISBN-13: 978-0891418047
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative, April 29, 2003

By 

"skipjackstevens" (Gualo Rai, Saipan, MP) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battling for Saipan (Paperback)

Mr. O'Brien gives a vivid detail of the 105ths movements from the landing on the beaches of Saipan to the final evacuation from the Gyokusai attach in Tanapag. He follows his uncle Lt. Col. William J. O'Brien from battle to battle all the time merging stories of the hundreds of other men who fought along side him. Giving an almost play by play of scirmishes from survivors stories. I couldn't put it down. I will never Hash through the jungles here the same way again! Infact, I went to the memorial and looked for his name of the thousands that are there and I found it. As you look at it you face to about the appoximate location of Tagapag village.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Injustice and Honor in War, November 14, 2003

By 

John Henderson (St. Louis, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battling for Saipan (Paperback)

I've often wondered over the years how justifiable Howlin' Mad Smith's relief of Ralph Smith was during the battle for Saipan. I've suspected that there was more to the issue than meets the eye and that Holland Smith may have had more of a point to prove than cause for action. O'Brien's book points solidly in that direction although his perspective has to be skewed toward the 27th and I believe that he wrote the book starting from that viewpoint. However the most moving and impressive part of this account for me was the details of the heroism of Sgt. Thomas A. Baker. I first encountered his story in an obscure internet tribute one Veteran's Day a few years back. Reading his citation I wondered what kind of man could be capable of such feats. O'Brien's history contains more details of this remarkable soldier than I've found elsewhere, but still left me yearning to find out more about him. Who knows, maybe someday I'll write his definitive history!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars solid depiction of Saipan, but several glaring omissions, November 26, 2010

By 

Luke Killion - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battling for Saipan (Paperback)

The battle for Saipan was a pivotal moment in the Pacific war. It marked the transition from the early campaigns defined by prolonged guerilla warfare in the jungle to short but ferocious head on assaults. The combat there in June and July of 1944 is described well by Francis O'Brien in his book "Battling for Saipan." O'Brien is the nephew of Lt. Col. William O'Brien who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his effort to defend his battalion perimeter during the final days of the battle.

While this book is far from perfect, I found its focus (the 27th Infantry Division) to be quite interesting on several levels. The 27th was one of the rare Army divisions assigned to Nimitz's Central Pacific drive. It is perhaps known most for the controversy surrounding the relief of its' commanding General Ralph Smith during the battle for Saipan. The issue has created some of the bitterest examples of Army/Navy struggle for control during the Pacific war. O'Brien's book doesn't really address these issues too much as it has been covered in other books such as Harry Gailey's "Howling Mad vs. the Army." I think he feels this ugly inter-service rivalry cast a dark shadow over the 27th and denigrated their tactical operations on Saipan, which is the focus of the book. While I think it is true that the division was far from being the "one of the best trained and equipped divisions in the army" as O'Brien states in his book, the fact they are a much maligned unit is somewhat unfair. Their efforts on Saipan were certainly not error-free, but the rift between Army/Navy policy for Island hopping strategy caused their campaign on Saipan to be defined by criticism.

At the heart of this problem was the differing strategy of each branch of service. The Navy was adamant upon ground operations being conducted with the utmost speed to free up the fleet from infantry support (which often resulted in excessive infantry casualties i.e. Peleliu), while the Army favored an approach championed by MacArthur which favored siege tactics and the heavy employment of artillery and envelopment to eliminate enemy positions. Needles to say the Army and Navy were quite often at odds for control of the Pacific, and the 27th's experience on Saipan was an unfortunate consequence of the rivalry. Marine General Holland Smith felt the division was "yellow" and afraid to fight because of their relatively slow approach, when in actuality it was more a question of the division becoming a scapegoat to denigrate Army tactics in the Pacific. That said, the 27th was not one of the best divisions in the army (like the author claims); while their sub par preformance on Saipan could be chalked up to inexperience and politics, there was no excuse for the breakdown of the division on Okinawa, causing Army general Buckner to pull them off the line after a couple of weeks. There could be no doubt that the unit had some serious problems and though their fighting on Saipan was be defined by controversy, but the division still had many brave men.

O'Brien's book is written with this in mind and is attempting to compensate for the 27th's poor reputation. Although his book is nearly free of criticism (some of which is valid such as the 27th's poor perimeter defense before the July 7th Banzai attack) he does make some valid points in defense of the division. The first action the division sees is on Nafutan point where Holland smith underestimates Japanese forces (he thought 300, the actual figure was near a 1,000) who were dug into the coral in a fashion reminiscent of Peleliu. After Nafutan, Holland Smith assigns the 27th to take the most heavily defended sector on the island, "Death Valley" then relieves Ralph Smith because he cannot secure the objective with enough speed. By this point it seems that the 27th was assigned two of the toughest points on the island to clear and then denigrated when they can't do it immediately. It does seem as if the Marine Generals "have it in for the 27th", perhaps in an effort to expose Army incompetence, thereby gaining more control of the Pacific.

The fact that O'Brien's book doesn't cover these issues in depth gives his work more room for the tactical movements of the 27th. The fight in Nafutan and the Banzai attack are done quite well with first person accounts mixed with general history of the battle. O'Brien's choice to skip over the battle for Death Valley was disappointing, but this aside the book is a solid move by move account of Saipan, but the writiing is given to an obvious bias in redeeming the tarnished reputation of the 27th.