Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944-The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Bill Sloan (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

A Band of Brothers for the Pacific, this is the gut-wrenching but ultimately triumphant story of the Marines' most ferocious-yet largely forgotten-battle of World War II.Between September 15 and October 15, 1944, the First Marine Division suffered more than 6,500 casualties fighting on a hellish little island in the Pacific. Peleliu was the scene for one of the most savage struggles of modern times, a true killing ground that has all but been forgotten-until now. Drawing on extensive interviews with Peleliu veterans, Bill Sloan follows the men of K/3/5 and a handful of others throughout the campaign and rescues the Corp's bloodiest battle from obscurity.Misled by poor intelligence, the 9,000 Marine infantry-men who landed on Peleliu's beaches found themselves facing 11,000 Japanese who had turned the island into an intricate network of caves and underground fortifications unrivaled in the history of warfare. Sloan's gripping narrative seamlessly weaves together the experiences of the men who were there, producing a vivid and unflinching look at the nightmare that was Peleliu-a ferocious melee of non-stop infantry attacks, hand-to-hand combat, flame-thrower assaults, and night skirmishes, many in temperatures that topped 115 degrees. With casualties in some infantry units averaging more than sixty percent, Peleliu is the bloodiest battle in the Corps' history.Surprisingly, Peleliu received little public notice back in the States even as it was being fought and was virtually forgotten after the war. At last rectifying this historical injustice, Brother of Heroes will stand with Ghost Soldiers and Flags of Our Fathers as a modern classic in military history as a riveting read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The battle of Peleliu, though certainly not the bloodiest of the Pacific war, was a ghastly ordeal. The rugged hills of the tiny coral island were honeycombed with caves and bunkers whose determined Japanese defenders had to be pried from every nook and cranny at the cost of nearly 10,000 American casualties. Sloan, author of Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island, delivers an engrossing grunt's-eye-view of the fighting, structured around personal reminiscences by the Marines who bore the brunt of it. By day, they inched forward with tanks, machine guns, grenades and flame-throwers; by night, they grappled in their foxholes with knife-wielding enemy infiltrators. The author repeatedly salutes the Marines' bravery but allows the horror of war-the loss of friends, the stench of the dead, the torment of thirst and sleep deprivation-to make itself felt: "I had resigned from the human race... I just wanted to kill," recalls one soldier. Sloan maintains enough perspective that the shape of the battle isn't lost amid the action, and he critiques American commanders' conduct of the campaign, which many historians consider a tragic waste of lives on an island that should have been bypassed. His regrettably one-sided account says little about the Japanese experience, and his focus on slogging foot soldiers somewhat distorts the character of the American effort, which relied on massive artillery and airstrikes. Still, he tells a gripping story, full of excitement and pathos, about one of the more hellish struggles of the Second World War. Photos. Agent, Roger Labrie.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Peleliu is one of the Palau Islands, southeast of the Philippines. In World War II, it was a Japanese base on the road to MacArthur's "return." The island was unsuitable for offensive purposes but was heavily garrisoned and fortified. When the First Marine Division went ashore, its first wave was actually outnumbered by the Japanese, who, instead of making banzai charges, sat in caves, tunnels, and holes and fought until they were killed. In the process, marine casualties ran into five figures and left enough defenders to give the army a hefty mopping-up job. Sloan, author of the excellent Given Up for Dead (2003), about Wake Island, focuses on Company K, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, and draws heavily on interviews with its surviving members. He also casts his net widely enough to offer a detailed, gripping panorama of one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War, which may well have been unnecessary. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,Library - Unabridged CD edition (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400131502
• ISBN-13: 978-1400131501
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,176,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad Intelligence, Bad Strategy, Great Marines, May 19, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 -- The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War (Hardcover)

Peleliu was a bitch. About the only good think you can say regarding Peleliu is that it tought some valuable lessons to the Marines. These were to be well used in subsequent campaigns.

The intelligence about Peleliu was bad, the overall stragegy was arguable, the whole thing was screwed up. Originally it was thought that it was necessary to protect MacArthur's flank as he took the Philippines. Subsequently there was thought that this wasn't necessary, but Nimitz believed that Peleliu would be a easy campaign and useful as an airbase. He was wrong.

The battle for Peleliu was supposed to last for only about 72 hours as the few hundred or maybe a couple of thousand Japanese were defeated. Instead 10,500 Japanese fought very, very well for thirty days of continuous fight-to-the-last-man combat. It was one of the few islands where the Marines faced Japanese tanks.

This book follows (mostly) K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Regiment - K/3/5. K Company was in the forefront of the invasion with 235 men. At the end of the battle 85 answered roll call. This is their story, a story of an incredible brotherhood.

Great Reading About a Tragic Battle.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brotherhood of Heroes, May 30, 2005

By 

Neal Bellet (Wayne, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 -- The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War (Hardcover)

Brotherhood of Heroes by Bill Sloan is the story of the First Marine Division's battle to defeat the Japanese on the island of Peleliu. Fighting under conditions that can only be described as horrific, the Marines fought from the minute they hit the beaches, and kept on fighting until they were pulled off the line some thirty days later. During this time the division lost 6,526 men, 1,252 killed in action, and 5,274 wounded in action. This "equated to more than two casualties for each of the island's 3,200 acres." Although the early fighting was done on the beaches, the majority of the battles took place in the very mountainous region of Peleliu where the Japanese had built a series of interconnecting tunnels. The fighting was intense and very costly for both sides. However, as a result of the courage of these heroes the Marines were able to carry the day. I have read a number of books on different battles occurring in both the ETO, and the PTO and in my opinion Peleliu ranks among the worse. With the book and Given Up For Dead, Bill Sloan has established himself as one of the premier WWII historians. This is a must read for all.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Preserving a story of incredible bravery, June 13, 2005

By 

Floyd C. Wood "Floyd C. Wood" (Garland, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 -- The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War (Hardcover)

When veterans of World War II, like those who fought in the ferocious, island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific, returned home at war's end, their families and friends were given a piece of advice: Don't ask about their experiences. As a result, many family members went for years with only bits of information about what their sons, brothers or fathers did from 1941 to 1945 in the service of their country. Much of that changed in the 1990s when America observed the 50th anniversary of the war that was the 20th century's pivotal event. With that observance also came the realization that the men and women who served during that time were nearing the end of their lives. Important stories of heroism and bravery were in danger of being lost. Bill Sloan, first with Given Up for Dead, the inspiring story of the defense of Wake Island early in the Pacific war, and now with Brotherhood of Heroes, is helping to preserve the heritage of courage and bravery of those who fought in World War II. Brotherhood of Heroes tells of the invasion by the First Marine Division of a hellhole of an island called Peleliu, east of the Philippines. Specifically, it zeros in on the men of K Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment and their accomplishments despite the efforts of a determined enemy. Battles like Peleliu were fought by armies, divisions, battalions and companies. But in reality they were fought by men who were scared, angry, and tired but who were indeed members of a brotherhood of heroes. The book was criticized in an earlier customer review because it reflects only on American courage and determination. There's an obvious reason for that. Only about 30 of the approximately 11,000 Japanese defenders who fought with suicidal bravery on Peleliu survived the battle. Locating and then interviewing any of those 30 men who were still living some 60 years later would have been an impossible task.