Customer Reviews

Semper Fi, Mac: Living Memories Of The U.s. Marines In Wwii

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Henry Berry's 'Semper Fi, Mac" is an oral history of the Marine Corps in the Pacific in World War II. Berry interviewed about 75 Marines who had fought in some of the toughest battles and places in the Pacific. There is a rough chronological order to the interviews but most of the stories start on or about Dec. 7, 1941. The stories most of the men tell start with either this date or shortly before, coupled with with some background material, their training, the trip to the Pacific, and then their personal experiences in combat. There is misery and death, heroism and tragedy, but overall a sense of comradeship comes from every story. Berry sprinkles his work with humorous tidbits of Marine history and stories about famous Marines, such as Chesty Puller, the only Marine to win five Navy Crosses. Also there are sections on Marine lingo and a brief historical synopsis of the Marines' Pacific battles. Berry himself was in the Marines near the end of the war and gives a proper perspective of all events and personalities. But this book is about the men who fought and died on such places as Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Its their book, their story, their history, and it should never be forgotten.

This books title sums up the story inside. Every Marine's story in this book carries a similar thread. They were scared as hell in combat but never regretted joining the core. Mr. Berry, (a WWII Marine himself, which is probaly the reason they opened up so much to him) brings a personnal story from every Marine battle during the war. The confusion and deprivation of Guadalcanal, the bloodbath of Tarawa, the Japanese suicidal frenzy of Saipan, the slaughter of Peleliu and Iwo Jima up to the conclusion at Okinawa. It is all here: death, disease, and destruction; all first hand accounts told by tough Marines. It is amazing any of them survived, yet 75 of them share there memories here in short personnal histories. These men are remembered here for their supreme sacrifice so many years ago.

Most of the book involves biographies of officers rather than the enlisted grunts. There was a lot of information on who commanded what unit, other officers they knew, and higher command info that was extremely boring. It seems like the majority of the writing is about the pre-war homelife of the individuals, including where they went to school, their marriages, where they worked, etc. I was hoping for detailed combat information about the Pacific war, but the majority of this book will keep you looking someplace else.

My father served in the 1st marine division in WWII in the Pacific but would never talk about it. So for me reading these recollections enabled me to hear what he experienced....incredible stuff.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a flavor of the real guys who fought and what they experienced.

Some books explain the big view of history. However I often prefer the view of the small eye witness. This book is basically transcribed interviews of selected veterans. Something like a guy or two reminiscing over drinks. Some are priceless.

I really liked it's snapshot format of battles all across the Pacific. I even found out that the Confederate flag was used by several Marine units instead of Ol Glory; as a Southerner that made me even happier.