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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Northern Fights -- When WWII Came Home to America, August 13, 2000
"The Thousand Mile War" is an old and cherished friend, and tells the story of the Aleutian Island Campaign against the Japanese in 1942-43. I settled in comfortably with the first edition in 1969 on my way to another war, and became thoroughly captivated by it. I'm delighted to see it reprinted in softcover.There are so many strong points to the book, and too many exciting tales to capture easily in a short review. It seems to me, though, that one of Brian Garfield's greatest strengths is his ability to unravel and relate accurately the joint and combined nature of allied operations in the Aleutians. The air, sea and ground operations, which the book richly details, sometimes occured in isolation, but more often were part of a concerted effort to oust the Japanese from the islands of Attu and Kiska. Although the fighting was borne primarily by U.S. forces, there were significant contributions by Canadian allies. Then there is the weather. The Aleutians, a chain of rugged islands stretching from Dutch Harbor to Attu in the west, cover about 1,000 miles, and are subject to some of the worst, most inhospitable weather conditions on the planet. As much of Garfield's story is about fighting the elements as it is about fighting the enemy. Having grown up in Alaska, I can easily identify with the harshness of wind and storm, of cold and snow and freezing ocean spray. To sum up, in Garfield's words: "The campaign in the grey and windy Aleutians was the United States' first offensive campaign of World War II -- the first to begin, the first to be won. Its major events had included the first extensive aerial bombing campaign in American history; the first mass military airlift ever executed; the longest and last classic daylight surface battle in naval history; the first land-based American bomber attacks on the Japanese homeland; and, in the Battle of Attu, the U.S. Infantry's first amphibious island assault landings and the second most costly infantry battle of the Pacific war (in ratio to the size of the forces engaged)." Garfield is as quantitative as he is qualitative, something that helps give perspective to his gut-level reporting of events. His footnotes are well organized by chapter and are in themselves worth reading. The only criticism I've ever heard was from a fellow who served in the Aleutians as an engineer sergeant. He was on Engineer Hill on Attu when Col. Yasuyo Yamasaki led his surviving soldiers in a banzai charge against the American position. Yamasaki attacked up the fog-covered Chichagof Valley with 600 men, all that was left of his force of 2,600. The surprise attack almost succeeded, but "Within minutes the Engineers and service troops had sprung to arms. Cooks, litter bearers, roadbuilders, and staff officers took shoulder-to-shoulder positions at the crest. General Arnold borrowed an M-1 rifle and crawled to a high point from which he could see the Japanese charging up the hill toward him. With calm, precise hand signals he directed the hand-grenade throws of his hidden troops as if he were calling artillery targets. The grenades blew gaps in the Japanese line but the charge did not falter." The attacking Japanese were within rock throwing distance when they were finally thrown back by a "withering point-blank concentration of bullets and grenades from the hasty, improvised American line." In this battle the former engineer sergeant does not recall General Arnold's actions the same way that Garfield relates them. Whichever is the case, it would not be the first time an American GI disparaged in retrospect the behavior of a senior officer. "The Thousand Mile War" is excellent history and a terrific read. I've enjoyed it more than once and have used it as a source for lecture notes and other research. You won't be disappointed.
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DVD ~ Maj. Milton Ashkin
DVD ~ Walter Huston
DVD ~ William S. Jones
