Nightmare on Iwo (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...fascinating and satisfying." -- Military Review, May-June 2003

Product Description

When Pat Caruso landed on Iwo Jima in February 1945 as a Marine second lieutenant, he was sixth in K company's chain of command. Within an hour of the initial assault, with his senior officers and one-third of his company's 230 men dead or wounded, he took command. Fourteen days later, he was wounded and evacuated, one of only a dozen or so in the company to survive the campaign. Until then, he had never known the full meaning of the word grateful, and he felt compelled to keep alive what he had observed. From a hospital bed in Guam he began writing down his thoughts on discarded hospital reports, paper bags, and anything else he could find. What emerged is one of the great memoirs of that epochal battle of the Pacific War, where the U.S. Marine Corps suffered more casualties than they inflicted--the only time in their history--yet emerged victorious. Caruso's prose is concise and vivid, placing the reader on the black ash beach beside him. Enduring lonely, terrifying nights when the dawn seemed never to come, inhaling the stench of death while listening to the agonized cries of wounded comrades, sharing moments of introspection, he always thought his next step toward the enemy might be his last.

With many books available on Iwo, there is a temptation to wonder what else could possibly be said about this battle, this war. Yet Caruso's voice is an a cappella solo in that vast chorus, opening the fortunate reader's eyes just a bit wider, conveying images that only unique experience and gifted writing can create. His haunting account is laced with the brooding horror of the nightmare, yet he bears witness to the glory growing out of acts of heroism that soon became commonplace, and he captures the essence of the battle without resorting to an up-the-hill/down-the-hill recounting that often mars war memoirs. For those who dare, this book will take the reader on an unforgettable journey.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press; illustrated edition edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557502404
• ISBN-13: 978-1557502407
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,576,933 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Iwo Jima - Impossible to Forget, December 19, 2001

By	Lloyd LeBlanc (Mill Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I have a 76-year old neighbor who lasted 3 days on Iwo Jima as a young Marine radioman, until a mortar explosion ended his military adventures for good. His term for the parts of the battle he experienced -- "unbelieveable, simply unbelieveable". Caruso's book adds to the litany of cries against the agony that was the battle in early 1945 for this awful place in the middle of nowhere. The author also reminds the reader of the youth and determined heroism of our fighting men brought to this terrible scene. Young junior officers like Pat Caruso were only months older than the men they led, and both troops and leaders suffered as they watched their ranks diminish. This is another good personal account of a famous battle; these tend to be the best, and we need them to fill in the blanks for future generations. A worthy addition to any history library.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nightmare On Iwo, December 23, 2001

By	Michael M. Barnett (Eustis, FL United States) - See all my reviews

I found this book to be very readable. It has an easy flow from beginning to end that keeps your attention. The author is a good story teller. He includes rich details of his memories of individual personalities he met along the way, as well as vivid descriptions of the battle as he experienced it. This is another good memoir of the struggle for Iwo Jima. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this campaign from the perspective of the soldiers who were there.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MILITARY MUST-READ, October 9, 2004

By	Robert Bradley Kennedy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nightmare on Iwo should be required reading in our high schools. So many take so much for granted, ignorant of the sacrifices that bought their comfort today. In plain-spoken terms, Caruso tells the story of Iwo Jima from the perspective of a junior line officer left wounded on the field of battle until two ammo bearers happened upon him and carried him to the safety of a field hospital. From that point, Caruso pieces together the accounts of others there while he recovered. Decades later, he would translate the mind-boggling casualty rates at Iwo into human terms, one Marine at a time. Though not a book of grand military strategy, most readers will have their eyes opened by this author's description of things like the Japanese soldiers' tunnel network beneath the island's surface, and American efforts to seal their fate. I know of no finer tribute to the skill and sacrifice of the American fighting man than this account. As only one who was there could, Caruso makes this tribute all the more powerful by never glorifying war. B.K., author of "HEROES or Something"