
Flamethrower
Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bryan Mark Rigg
-
By:
-
Bryan Mark Rigg
About this listen
Late in the Pacific War, as Americans were fighting their way to the home islands of the Japanese Empire, one of the fiercest battles of World War II was raging. The Japanese had created, perhaps, the best defended area anywhere on an island called Iwo Jima. Days into the bloody battle, casualties were high on both sides. United States Marines were taking an awful pounding out in the open from enemy-fortified positions.
Imperial Japanese soldiers in pillboxes and bunkers knew that the greatest danger they faced was from a flamethrower if it could get near enough to hit them. Imagine a little guy strapping on a highly flammable 70-pound weapon, instantly drawing heavy enemy fire as he maneuvered close enough with a small team of Leathernecks to destroy a pillbox. Woody Williams did just that on the hellishly hot and sulfurous volcanic island of Iwo Jima, destroying Japanese emplacements against dire odds. He, along with numerous comrades, did it again and again, taking out hundreds of fortifications which had stalled their regiment’s advance to secure the islands airfields.
The capture of Iwo Jima helped the powerful new B-29s have P-51 fighter-plane escorts to help the bombers pound Japan into submission. Iwo actually was a backup landing zone for the Enola Gay if she had difficulties delivering her atomic bomb on 6 August, 1945, at Hiroshima - a bomb American leaders hoped would bring Hirohito to his knees, begging for surrender terms so World War II would stop.
Accomplished military historian Bryan Mark Rigg reconstructs Woody Williams’ remarkable story, from his youth on a dairy farm in West Virginia to his experiences as a Marine in Guadalcanal, Guam, and Iwo Jima. Using never-before-known documents and interviews, Rigg brings out new information about the Pacific War unknown until now. Rigg enables the listener to better appreciate the brave marines and their heroics.
©2020 Bryan Mark Rigg (P)2020 Bryan Mark RiggListeners also enjoyed...
-
40 Thieves on Saipan
- The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles
- By: Joseph Tachovsky, Cynthia Kraack
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan - where firing a gun could mean instant discovery and death - the 40 Thieves killed in silence during the grueling battle for Saipan, the D-Day of the Pacific.
-
-
Incredibly written, incredibly told!
- By licensedtorock on 09-05-20
By: Joseph Tachovsky, and others
-
In the Company of Heroes
- The Inspiring Stories of Medal of Honor Recipients from America's Longest Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
- By: James Kitfield
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An award-winning military journalist tells the amazing stories of 22 soldiers who've won the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.
-
-
Bad narration
- By Phillip on 06-12-23
By: James Kitfield
-
Angels Against the Sun
- A WWIl Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood
- By: James M. Fenelon
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pacific War in World War II pitted American fighting men against two merciless enemies: the relentless Japanese army and the combined forces of monsoons, swamps, mud, privation, and disease. The rowdy paratroopers of the eleventh Airborne Division-nicknamed "The Angels"—answered the call and fought in some of World War II's most dramatic campaigns, ranging from bloody skirmishes in Leyte's unforgiving rainforests to the ferocious battles on Luzon, including the hellscape urban combat of Manila.
-
-
Great History of a Unique Division
- By scott on 07-18-23
By: James M. Fenelon
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Helmet for My Pillow
- From Parris Island to the Pacific: A Young Marine's Stirring Account of Combat in World War II
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: James Badge Dale, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
Should be required reading in high school
- By Randall on 04-03-19
By: Robert Leckie
-
D-Day
- June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jesse Boggs
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen E. Ambrose draws from hundreds of interviews with US Army veterans and the brave Allied soldiers who fought alongside them to create this exceptional account of the day that shaped the twentieth century. D-Day is above all the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their existence, when the horrors, complexities and triumphs of life are laid bare and courage and heroism come to the fore.
-
-
What an epic story what great men
- By Michael on 02-12-14
-
40 Thieves on Saipan
- The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles
- By: Joseph Tachovsky, Cynthia Kraack
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan - where firing a gun could mean instant discovery and death - the 40 Thieves killed in silence during the grueling battle for Saipan, the D-Day of the Pacific.
-
-
Incredibly written, incredibly told!
- By licensedtorock on 09-05-20
By: Joseph Tachovsky, and others
-
In the Company of Heroes
- The Inspiring Stories of Medal of Honor Recipients from America's Longest Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
- By: James Kitfield
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An award-winning military journalist tells the amazing stories of 22 soldiers who've won the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award.
-
-
Bad narration
- By Phillip on 06-12-23
By: James Kitfield
-
Angels Against the Sun
- A WWIl Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood
- By: James M. Fenelon
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pacific War in World War II pitted American fighting men against two merciless enemies: the relentless Japanese army and the combined forces of monsoons, swamps, mud, privation, and disease. The rowdy paratroopers of the eleventh Airborne Division-nicknamed "The Angels"—answered the call and fought in some of World War II's most dramatic campaigns, ranging from bloody skirmishes in Leyte's unforgiving rainforests to the ferocious battles on Luzon, including the hellscape urban combat of Manila.
-
-
Great History of a Unique Division
- By scott on 07-18-23
By: James M. Fenelon
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Helmet for My Pillow
- From Parris Island to the Pacific: A Young Marine's Stirring Account of Combat in World War II
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: James Badge Dale, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
-
-
Should be required reading in high school
- By Randall on 04-03-19
By: Robert Leckie
-
D-Day
- June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jesse Boggs
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen E. Ambrose draws from hundreds of interviews with US Army veterans and the brave Allied soldiers who fought alongside them to create this exceptional account of the day that shaped the twentieth century. D-Day is above all the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their existence, when the horrors, complexities and triumphs of life are laid bare and courage and heroism come to the fore.
-
-
What an epic story what great men
- By Michael on 02-12-14
-
Dark Waters, Starry Skies
- The Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, March–October 1943
- By: Jeffrey Cox
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thousands of miles from friendly ports, the US Navy had finally managed to complete the capture of Guadalcanal from the Japanese in early 1943. Now the Allies sought to keep the offensive momentum won at such a high cost. This is the central plotline running through this page-turning history beginning with the Japanese Operation I-Go and the American ambush of Admiral Yamamoto and continuing on to the Allied invasion of New Georgia, northwest of Guadalcanal in the middle of the Solomon Islands and the location of a major Japanese base.
-
-
great but way too much alliteration...
- By Greg on 06-16-23
By: Jeffrey Cox
-
Island Infernos
- The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944
- By: John C. McManus
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After some two years at war, the Army in the Pacific held ground across nearly a third of the globe, from Alaska’s Aleutians to Burma and New Guinea. The challenges ahead were enormous: supplying a vast number of troops over thousands of miles of ocean; surviving in jungles ripe with dysentery, malaria, and other tropical diseases; fighting an enemy prone to ever-more desperate and dangerous assaults. Yet the Army had proven they could fight. Now, they had to prove they could win a war.
-
-
Wonderful book, but incomplete and poorly narrated.
- By Linda S. on 02-24-22
By: John C. McManus
-
Angels and Demons
- By: Dan Brown
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization, the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra.
-
-
A must for fans of The Da Vinci Code
- By Geoffrey on 04-14-04
By: Dan Brown
-
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young
- Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
- By: Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 1965, some 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. How these men persevered makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating.
-
-
The truth
- By Bobbyg on 10-08-19
By: Harold G. Moore, and others
-
Five Families
- The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
- By: Selwyn Raab
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 33 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals, and generational changes that produced violent, unreliable leaders and recruits.
-
-
7326451
- By Mark on 10-13-16
By: Selwyn Raab
-
The Cactus Air Force
- Air War Over Guadalcanal
- By: Eric Hammel, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Adam Henderson
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Cactus Air Force, Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver worked closely with Eric to build on his collection of diary entries, interviews and first-hand accounts to create a vivid narrative of the struggle in the air over the island of Guadalcanal between August 20 and November 15, 1942.
-
-
Excellent Book!
- By Eric Peterson on 09-16-22
By: Eric Hammel, and others
-
Bitter Peleliu
- The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Mack Gordon
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield there could not threaten the invasion forces. This important new book explores the dramatic story of this ‘forgotten’ battle and the campaign’s strategic failings. Bitter Peleliu reveals how U.S. intelligence officers failed to detect the complex network of caves, tunnels, and pillboxes hidden inside the island’s coral ridges.
-
-
Narration.
- By Chad Howard on 01-27-25
By: Joseph Wheelan
-
Citizen Soldiers
- The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful biography of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, Citizen Soldiers provides a compelling account of the extraordinary stories of ordinary men in their fight for democracy. From the high command on down to the enlisted men, Stephen E. Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from men on both sides who were there.
-
-
Required reading, excellent narration
- By Jeremy on 06-30-11
-
The Aviators
- Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gifted storyteller Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, has written the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight: Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring military raids and survival at sea, and will appeal to fans of Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys.
-
-
Too much a hagiography
- By Joseph Valenzi on 09-08-15
By: Winston Groom
-
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
-
-
Held my interest for 57 hours and 13 minutes
- By Jonnie on 11-08-10
-
Things I'll Never Forget
- Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam
- By: James M. Dixon
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Things I’ll Never Forget is the story of a young high school graduate in 1965 who faces being drafted into the Army or volunteering for the Marine Corps. These are his memories of funny times, disgusting times and deadly times. The author kept a journal for an entire year; therefore many of the dates, times and places are accurate. The rest is based on memories that are forever tattooed on his brain. This is not a pro-war book, nor is it anti-war. It is the true story of what the Marine Corps was like in the late 1960’s.
-
-
Accurate Description
- By USMC VIETVET on 07-02-19
By: James M. Dixon
-
Blaze of Light
- The Inspiring True Story of Green Beret Medic Gary Beikirch, Medal of Honor Recipient
- By: Marcus Brotherton
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After dawn the siege began. It was April 1, 1970, and Army Green Beret medic Gary Beikirch knew the odds were stacked against their survival. Some 10,000 enemy soldiers sought to obliterate the 12 American Special Forces troops and 400 indigenous fighters who stood fast to defend 2,300 women and children inside the village of Dak Seang. For his valor and selflessness during the ruthless siege, Beikirch would be awarded a Medal of Honor, the nation's highest and most prestigious military decoration.
-
-
Hope for the future
- By Michael L. Jernigan on 04-09-20
Excellent History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The subject itself is graphic in nature so don't expect a glossed over version of history. Mr. Rigg has done a fantastic job of researching the material and has, unfortunately, uncovered some inconvenient truths in one man's Medal of Honor award. The book itself is about so much more than Woody Wilson's story, and dives deeply into the Pacific campaign of WWII, and Iwo Jima in particular detail.
Mr. Rigg has faced some legal issues from Woody Wilson getting this book out, but it should be noted that at no time does the author call his heroism into question; just the events surrounding the actions leading up to the MOH being awarded.
Fantastic book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastic!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
10 hours too long
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing historical read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Worth the read at any price!
PS I am not sure what the cost is of hiring a professional narrator are but I hope Mr. Rigg springs for a narrator the next time around.
Great Read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the best books on the Pacific War.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don't listen to audiobook
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
WAY TOO REDUNDANT
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Much too long!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.