War Is Personal: Hell, Luck, and Resilience
A WWII Combat Marine's Accounts of Okinawa and China
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Narrated by:
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Kiff VandenHeuvel
About this listen
Finalist in The National Indie Excellence Awards!
2020 Finalist in the Readers' Favorite Award Contest!
“The grim reaper missed me. The dumb bastard had a close-up swing at me on six different occasions - and missed.” (Roy Wilkes)
The Invasion of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theatre, and Roy Wilkes, USMC, was unfortunate enough to have a front-row seat. True, gripping stories of being a scared 17-year-old Combat Marine trying to stay alive behind enemy lines.
He witnessed 23 of his friends die in a bombing. True, gripping stories and pictures reveal the mind, heart, and soul of a fighting WWII Marine.
This fascinating book is also a perfect history lesson for war buffs and students since it covers all aspects of the Battle of Okinawa: mental, emotional, historical, and personal. There are short stories about the war - some tragic, some funny, some thought-provoking - but all true.
There are also 54 pictures, two interviews with Roy, and After the War sections. This eyewitness account gives the complete picture of what World War II was really like. Also how PTSD was with him 'til the end of his life.
In his twilight years, he reflects on how his nightmare war memories affected his life, and yet his indomitable spirit helped him cope, and become successful in life.
Excerpts from this book:
“The casualties were monumental. Trucks were coming down the lines with Marines piled like cordwood. They put ponchos over ‘em, but you could see all these feet dangling out. It was like a conveyor belt. We were going up and they were coming back. The only difference is we were alive - and they were dead.”
“Continuous rain dampened the soul.
The low, thick dark clouds made sure God didn’t see.
What happened here was a secret from Him.
God was busy someplace else.
So this part of His Universe went insane.”
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I'm Staying with My Boys
- The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC
- By: Jim Proser, Jerry Cutter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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I'm Staying with My Boys is a firsthand look inside the life of one of the greatest heroes of the Greatest Generation. Sgt. John Basilone held off 3000 Japanese troops at Guadalcanal after his 15-member unit was reduced to three men. At Iwo Jima he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse, allowing his unit to capture an airfield. Minutes later he was killed by an enemy artillery round. He was the only Marine in World War II to have received the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, and a Purple Heart.
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Devil Dogs!
- By Skip Drake on 10-25-18
By: Jim Proser, and others
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Beyond Valor
- World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Previous books have promised to describe the combat experience of the World War II GI, but there has never been a book like Patrick O'Donnell's Beyond Valor. Here is the first combat history of the war in Europe in the words of the men themselves, and perhaps the most honest and brutal account of combat possible.
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Can't get enough.
- By C,L, Richey on 01-08-12
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My War in the Jungle: The Long-Delayed Memoir of a Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam 1968–69
- By: G. M. Davis
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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This memoir tells the story of a Marine rifle platoon commander’s time in the mountainous jungle of the northernmost province of the then Republic of Vietnam. While tasked with fighting the enemy, G.M. Davis made some great friends but saw too much death. The author tracks his tour of duty in the jungle, leading Marines not against the Viet Cong but against the North Vietnamese Army, a well-trained and well-supplied professional army dedicated to unifying the two Vietnams.
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Outstanding
- By Andrew on 02-04-24
By: G. M. Davis
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Jump Commander
- In Combat with the 505th and 508th Parachute Infantry Regiments, 82nd Airborne Division in World War II
- By: John Sparry, Mark Alexander
- Narrated by: Mike Vendetti
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Col. Mark James Alexander was the only airborne officer to lead three different battalions into combat in World War II, successively commanding the 2nd and 1st Battalions, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 508 PIR, of the 82nd Airborne Division. A legend in his own time, he fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France, and even after being seriously wounded in Normandy, insisted on playing a role in the Battle of the Bulge.
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Great history
- By Psychofan1 on 10-29-21
By: John Sparry, and others
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Their Backs Against the Sea
- The Battle of Saipan and the Greatest Banzai Attack of World War II
- By: Bill Sloan
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In the midst of the largest banzai attack of the war, US Army Lt. Col. William O'Brien, grievously wounded and out of ammunition, grabbed a sabre from a fallen Japanese soldier and flailed away at a small army of assailants, screaming to his men, "Don't give them a damn inch"! When his body was recovered the next day, 30 dead enemies were piled around him. The Battle of Saipan lasted 25 hellish days in the summer of 1944, and the stakes couldn't have been higher. If Japan lost possession of the island, all hope for victory would be lost.
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Thank you!
- By Robert on 01-29-19
By: Bill Sloan
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Flags of Our Fathers
- By: James Bradley, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.
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awesome
- By Thomas on 11-29-06
By: James Bradley, and others
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Fighting With the Filthy Thirteen
- The World War II Story of Jack Womer - Ranger and Paratrooper
- By: Jack Womer, Stephen Devito
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In this long awaited work one of the squad’s integral members - and probably its best soldier - reveals his own inside account of fighting as a spearhead of the Screaming Eagles in Normandy, Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge.
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Interesting listen
- By Nick on 11-27-14
By: Jack Womer, and others
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Heroes Among Us
- Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America's Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan
- By: Chuck Larson
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Over one million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past four years, but fewer than 500 from this group have earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or the Medal of Honor. Those who have been awarded these distinguished honors all demonstrated an extraordinary courage under fire in the worst of circumstances.
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Wow!
- By John on 01-28-10
By: Chuck Larson
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Dispatches
- By: Michael Herr
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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From its terrifying opening to its final eloquent words, Dispatches makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr’s unsparing, unorthodox retellings of the day-to-day events in Vietnam take on the force of poetry, rendering clarity from one of the most incomprehensible and nightmarish events of our time.
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All of the reviews are correct.
- By Mark Thoreson on 01-18-22
By: Michael Herr
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What Now, Lieutenant?
- By: Robert O. Babcock
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Every now and then a work comes along that is so simple and refreshing in its originality that it immediately captures the spirit of American fighting men throughout the ages. Such is this work by Bob Babcock. What makes this work unique is that it is based upon his wartime writing as it occurred, without the softening of time and the refining of modern memory applied to past experience. In it you will find the thinking of a young officer as he struggles to take in all that he is responsible for while experiencing everything himself for the first time.
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Robo Cop Lullaby
- By Gavin on 04-19-20
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Combat Veterans' Stories of World War II: Volume 1
- North Africa and Europe, November 1942-May 1945
- By: Norman Black
- Narrated by: Capt. Kevin F. Spalding USNR-Ret
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The stories of 20 combat veterans in this book tell experiences of average Americans that fought enemies of the US in World War II. They relate much previously unavailable information about the military in which they served and the battles they fought, from North Africa to Europe, where the possibility of death and permanent physical and mental injury was their common experience. This book is a "must listen" for those that think they have learned all there is to know about World War II.
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True stories from real heroes
- By Darren on 07-16-15
By: Norman Black
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Red Blood, Black Sand
- Fighting Alongside John Basilone from Boot Camp to Iwo Jima
- By: Chuck Tatum
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps - Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal.
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not as good as helmet or old breed
- By C. Kenny on 01-21-17
By: Chuck Tatum
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War Letters
- Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars
- By: Andrew Carroll
- Narrated by: Joan Allen, Tom Brokaw
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Abridged
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War Letters presents historic, dramatic, personal accounts of both World Wars, the Civil War, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War, Somalia and the Balkans, revealing in vivid detail what the servicemen and women of America have experienced and sacrificed on the front lines. Read by an all-star cast, including Joan Allen, Tom Brokaw, Rob Lowe, Noah Wyle, and more.
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One of the best...
- By Chris on 01-14-03
By: Andrew Carroll
What listeners say about War Is Personal: Hell, Luck, and Resilience
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sam Carlson
- 09-30-20
enjoyable but short
I enjoyed the authors honesty and listening to several of his experiences. I wish the book was longer and went into more detail of his account.
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