Customer Reviews

Wanna Live Forever?: A Machine gunner's adventures during the battle for Okinawa--World War II

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Carlton was posted to D/1/184th Regt of the 7th Division on Leyte before spending three months fighting on Okinawa. Curiously, though it appears he saw combat on Leyte he doesn't write of any of it. He is also short on details of home and training, so this is a short book but given it is all about combat on Okinawa, it is good value.

Carlton's unit lands very early in the piece but there is little action as they cross the island. It is only when they turn to work their way up the length of Okinawa that the Japanese are located - in their very extensive fortifications. Carlton is a machine gunner but he spends a lot of time engaging with his carbine. Indeed it was interesting to read that despite his specialized role he is sent into frontal attacks with only his personal weapon. He uses it too, writing of seeing the puffs of dust on Japanese shirts as his bullets strike home. He is quite business like in this regard. By surviving the whole three months of the campaign he experiences a lot of battles. Indeed there seem to have been very few aspects of this war that he didn't encounter. There are grenade duels and many nights when the Japanese came forward on suicidal raids. One day he uses a captured Japanese rifle to inflict carnage on stragglers being driven by flamethrower tanks. (Tanks didn't have it all their own way, another day he watches helplessly as three Shermans are ambushed and their crews wiped out when gasoline is poured over them and set on fire.) There are a lot of US casualties and Slim wonders how he managed to survive. Luck was a part of it but soldier `smarts' come through too.

This is an entertaining book without being a masterpiece in any way. There are a few typos and soldier profanities but neither is excessive. It is a reasonably quick read with lots of short chapters. Slim is very open about killing the enemy but thankfully he is active in taking prisoners too when they finally begin to present. I enjoyed Slim's story and wished it were longer and included his experiences on Leyte. See my list for other books on battles in the Pacific. Recommended.

The author does an excellent job of telling it as it "Really" was. Nothing left to the imagination or white-washed for political correctness. Just an honest account of an infantryman serving his country and trying to survive the horrors of war. I felt like I was right along side Slim, all through this book. It was hard to put the book down. A "must read"......You'll gain a new respect for the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have served our country in the past, and who are serving our country now.