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Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island

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I recently returned from a two week tour of Civil War battlefields, emotionally drained by standing on (to me) the sacred ground where so many brave men perished. The History Channel featured Prof. Urwin, discussing the fall of Wake Island as part of a showing of the 1942 movie about Wake. It isn't often that I pay this kind of price for a book, but believe me, it was worth it! Impeccable research is combined with a profoundly effective writing style (A+ from this retired lawyer) to produce a moving and sympathetic tribute to the brave men who defended Wake. Although it is over 700 pages, it has been hard to put down because of the skill of its author. I envy his students if his classroom presentations are one-half as good as his writing. I have read several books on Wake, but this is far and away the best. I have read many, many works on military history, strategy and tactics (there are about 500 facing me as I write this), and "Facing Fearful Odds" is up there with the best of them. Don't let the price discourage you; it is well worth it. The thing I found most enjoyable is that the incredible wealth of detail never gets in the way of the narration.

Although I am old enough to remember Wake Island, I never had access to the level of detail provided in this excellent account. By skillfull use of interviews, woven together from various perspectives, Urwin gives a superb and personal day-to-day tactical account of what it was like to those who were there; and then helps the reader keep perspective with what was happening in "The Big Picture" of politics and strategy. As a Marine in the Korean War, we studied many battles. None were as well covered as this book. The detail provided and the author's skill in organizing and writing it up into an easily readable account make it a historical book well worth reading for anyone who wants to know about World War II, and about the quality of people who served our Country at that time. His addition of information about the survivors' time in POW camps was exceptionally thought provoking.

The title, Facing Fearful Odds, is taken from Macaulay's "Horatius at the Bridge" (a poem I lovingly remember reading as a schoolboy), and it's evocative of the dramatic siege of Wake Island in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Gregory Urwin is a fine writer who vividly portrays the drama of a handful of Marines and civilian construction workers who repelled daily assaults by the Japanese navy and air force for 16 harrowing days before finally capitulating to overwhelming force. In stunning detail, the author depicts the frantic preparatory events leading up to the siege, the fierce resistance, and the bitter aftermath. It is sad that these heroic events are little known by today's generation.

What is compelling about Mr. Urwin's account of the Wake Island story is his depiction of ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Although the Marines were volunteers, many of them joined the Corps to escape the Depression, and many of them never expected to find themselves in such a perilous position. Nonetheless, like Horatius at the Bridge, these men did more than their duty.

Facing Fearful Odds describes how the United States failed to marshal its considerable resources during the year and three months that Europe had been at war; we were dreadfully unprepared militarily, economically and psychologically for the sudden impact of the terrible defeats Japan dealt us. If we view the events of late 1941 in the context of the smug condescension most Americans felt toward Japan, and the fact that we woefully underestimated Japanese military prowess, we can begin to understand how shattering Pearl Harbor was. Americans were angry as hell and damned scared.

Then, a few gritty Marines and civilian construction workers - every one of them a regular "Joe Everyman" with whom any American could identify - held off the mighty Japanese navy and air force for more than two weeks and dealt them a stunning, crushing blow. That we ultimately lost Wake Island mattered little. That these brave men showed the world that Americans could - and would - fight back meant everything to the people at home and to those in the service. These few men lifted America from its fear and helped focus its anger in a powerful resolve to defeat the enemy.

The Marines of Wake Island were expendable, and they knew it. Mr. Urwin enables the reader to imagine why a man would willingly put himself in harm's way knowing - with near certainty - that he was unlikely to survive. One could argue that the man doesn't have a choice, but of course he has a choice - he can surrender. Urwin shows us that the willingness to fight and not surrender came from something more than patriotism. Though they fully expected to die, it was a matter of pride; though they believed no one would ever know it, they were determined to make the enemy pay dearly for American lives. They knew if they did that, someone else might live a little longer.

Facing Fearful Odds is about defiance in the face of certain death, of abject determination to make the enemy pay a terrible price for their arrogance. The men of Wake Island didn't save the world - that was for the men and women who came after them to do. But they saved America's face. Guam surrendered immediately. Wake Island did not.

Several weeks before the battle of the Alamo, Mexican troops marched into San Antonio demanding a siege cannon that the Texan rebels held. The Texans' reply was, "Come and take it." Implied were the words, "...if you can." Gregory Urwin gives the reader a rare opportunity to know how the men of Wake Island felt when they made the Japanese Navy "come and take it."

Sin of Omission

Since my father was a .50 captain on the island and I was with the 5th Marines in VN, I have read every work out on Wake Island. This author not only interviewed survivors but did massive research work tying in the Japanese situation and strategy with the situation on Wake Island and the strategies and reactions of Washington and Pearl Harbor, where Wake Island received its orders. He covers the air, naval,artillery and infantry actions and the personalities and historical disagreements of the participants. He speculates on alternative possibilities thoughtfully. I doubt, with the participants dying off so quickly now, that this book will ever be topped as the definitive work on the battle for wake island and he does a good job on the captivity time as well.

Author Gregory Urwin spent years researching the epic defense of Wake Island using uncovered documents, personal interviews of civilian and military survivors, diaries, library archives and just plan hard leg work. The author to this day still honors those that served at Wake by staying in touch with the survivors at their yearly reunions and was instrumental in making the documentary on The History Channel become a reality. 'Facing Fearful Odds' brings the battle to life again through the eyes of those that were there and gives a balanced view on the Devereux-Cunningham contravercy which showed beyond doubt the shabby treatment given to the Navy Commander. The book is a must read to anyone who wants to learn about dedication, friendship, survival and love of country.

I found this book from a HISTORY TV channel story featuring the author. As a baby-boomer I saw the movie WAKE ISLAND several times, but didn't realize it was made before any of the actual participants had returned from the POW camps. There is more Hollywood fiction in the movie than historical fact. But that's show business. The author covers in great detail the actions by major commands, individuals and everybody in-between. Considering how badly Wake was prepared to defend itself, the Marines did a great job for two weeks holding off superior forces. If only there had been more construction effort put into beach defense and airplane protection before Dec 7th. The Japanese underestimated the resistance in their first landing attempt. I was also surprised how close US forces came to rescuing the defenders, but were called off at the last moment. This a great book for Marine fans of WWII.

I am a student in one of Dr. Uwrin's classes and he assigned this book for us to read. Usually I get annoyed when this happens because it is usually a way for teachers to throw their ideas further onto students and make them pay (literally) for it. Urwin's is one of only two professor written books that I have enjoyed reading for class. Dr. Urwin's writing is extremely clear and easy to follow, and he grips the reader. The language is not the pompous scholarly language one usually finds in books like this. You don't have to be a student of WWII to read this, anyone could pick it up and read it without problems. And to answer someone's musing that if Dr. Urwin's lecturing is as good as his writing, it is and then some! READ THIS BOOK!

This book is an instant classic! I enjoyed reading this massive book cover to cover. The title "facing fearful odds" is an apt title. The quick change from peace to war trapped these brave men on an island that would become a symbol for the war in the pacific. The book reads well, and tells the tales of the civilians who stayed behind to defend Wake. The fact that they were so close to relief, and held out for so long is a testament to the warrior spirit. A must read!!!!

Most people only know about wake Island from the William Bendix movie made in 1942 when very few facts of the battle were known. What was know was that in 1941, as most American outposts in the far east fell in hours, this small Island with a garrison of some 450 marines and a few airmen held out for weeks and became a symbol of hope for Americans in a world of otherwise bleak news. The papers called this unlovely rock "The Alamo of the Pacific" in rememberance of that other famous last stand.

What Dr Urwin goes into is the detail beyond these facts, having interviewed survivors from both sides of the battle and poured over navy records he takes Marines who were little more than faceless icons, and made them human, with fears and hopes and lives all their own, and in so doing makes their stand more iconic. He gives them lives and personalities with annecdotes and humor as remembered by their friends in later years that shows them as a uniquiely American force.

Is it a big book? yup. Is it easy to read? Oh Yeah! The early chapters are about the finding, losing and refinding the atoll known as "Wake," then going into how it was developed in an attempt for commercial air travel in the 1930's. These chapters were so easy to read I found myself wondering if there were books on this, A topic I'd previously had no knowledge of or desire in. The writing is that good.

"What better way for man to die, then facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the Temples of his gods." yup, sums it up well.

Professor Urwin has contributed a priceless addition to the collection of great American historical letters. Perhaps one of the best compilations of Wake Island information that at no time reads like the encyclopedia it resembles.
This is a huge and potentially intimidating book that is worth every bit of its seemingly steep price tag. Invest in your brain, you get what you pay for and then some!

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