Faithful Warriors: A Combat Marine Remembers the Pacific War [Hardcover]

Lt. Col. Dean Ladd (Author), USMCR (Ret.) (Author), Steven Weingartner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2009

Faithful Warriors is a memoir of World War II in the Pacific by Lt. Col. Dean Ladd, USMC (Ret.), a combat veteran of the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. Written with award-winning author Steven Weingartner, Col. Ladd s book chronicles his experiences as a junior officer in some of the fiercest fighting of the war, during the amphibious invasions of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Tinian. Ladd's recollections and descriptions of life--and death--on the far-flung battlefronts of the Pacific War are vividly rendered, and augmented by the personal recollections of many of the men who served with and under him in his wartime journey across the Pacific.Dean Ladd grew up in the Marine Corps; and the Marine Corps grew up in World War II. Faithful Warriors tells the story of how both came of age in history s greatest conflict. The book presents Ladd's journey through eventful times and extraordinary circumstances: prewar training outside San Diego; awaiting attack on Samoa after the attack on Pearl Harbor; surviving Guadalcanal; rest and recuperation in New Zealand; savage fighting and terrible suffering on Tarawa; recovery in Hawaii; more fighting on Saipan and Tinian This vividly written memoir will stir the memories of those who lived during these trying times and will help future generations of readers to understand the realities of the Pacific War.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lt. Col. Dean Ladd, USMCR (Ret.), saw combat in the Pacific as a junior officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Marine Corps Reserve after the war, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1960. In all, he served thirty years in the Corps. A resident of Spokane, WA, he remains active in several veterans groups. Steven Weingartner, a historian and writer specializing in military history and military affairs, is the recipient of the 1998 Carl Sandburg Award for Nonfiction. He lives in La Grange Park, IL, where he contributes articles to magazines and journals and serves as a consultant and commentator for the History Channel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press; First Edition edition (May 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591144523
• ISBN-13: 978-1591144526
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #912,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Settle down to one hell of read, May 8, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faithful Warriors: A Combat Marine Remembers the Pacific War (Hardcover)

If you are fascinated by personal narratives from World War II, you had better put on the coffee pot, and settle down to one hell of read covering the Guadalcanal Campaign and landings at Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian islands in the battle for the Pacific Theater.

Dean Ladd was a young enlistee in the Marine Corps at the onset of .World War II. Commissioned on the battlefield, he fought as a junior officer though out the war. Ladd served in the Marine Corps Reserve following the war, rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

In a thoughtful 21 page retrospective, Ladd reports on visits to the former battlegrounds, often with old mates and old enemies. Like old veterans of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg or the Doughboys in Mousse Argon in World War l, these veterans share one thing in common; they lived through the ordeal of war and remembered the battles all the days of their lives

What we have left from these adventures are the personal narratives which will live as long as the printed word survives. Long live Colonel Ladd, and long live the Naval Institute Press, massage carriers of long ago days.

Richard N. Larsen
Reviewer

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read!, June 22, 2009

By 

W. Young (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faithful Warriors: A Combat Marine Remembers the Pacific War (Hardcover)

I echo what the previous reviewer says. This 2009 release version is a fascinating book, it will draw you right in and won't let go. I read it cover to cover in less than two days. This book is written mostly from the perspective of what the author calls the "50 yard circle" from his foxhole. Interspersed with the bloody battle scenes from different islands are stories of the various antics of Marines on liberty, they had me laughing out loud and the other people in the auto dealership waiting room looking at me like I was crazy.

If you have spent any time at all on Guadalcanal, Betio, Saipan, or Tinian, you might want to also procure LtCol Ladd's 1993 release of the same title. While some of the battle scene narrative is identical between the two books, there are enough major differences to the point I consider the two releases as different books. The 1993 edition is written from a "memory lane" perspective and has more of a human interest emphasis. Having spent some time on Saipan myself (albeit during peacetime), I actually prefer the 1993 version. For a straight battlefield read, however, the 2009 release is better.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book, August 14, 2009

By 

Calvin Vance "Kelly Vance" (Spokane) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faithful Warriors: A Combat Marine Remembers the Pacific War (Hardcover)

This is a tremendous book about the Marines in the Pacific during the Second World War. I bought this book and liked it so much that I bought another for my father in law, who was a Marine in the Pacific. The descriptions of the day to day life are as real as your backyard fence, and Col. Ladd brings that reality up close and personal in these pages. He not only tells you what happened, but brings it home to you in a natural and vivid way. He tells the tale with such candor and honesty that you come to feel like you know this humble man.

I had the pleasure of meeting Col. Ladd today, as he spoke to a civic group. He signed my book and signed the copy I bought for my father in law, "From one old Marine to another." Dad's going to love that.

Buy this book and settle in for a truly great read.

Kelly Vance