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muccamukkThis is a very brief memoir by the US Marine Crops mortar section corporal R.V. Burgin, who many of you will remember as "that one with the nice blue eyes who isn't a total fuck up from The Pacific."
The book covers Burgin's early life, USMC training, deployment, stays in Malbourne and Pavuvu, fighting on Cape Gloucester, Peleliu and Okinawa, and a little bit about his post war life. It does it all pretty briskly except for Peleliu, which is covered in some detail. I suspect that the focus on that battle over the others is that Burgin felt that it had been over looked in the history of the Pacific Theatre, and he wanted it to be remembered.
The prose itself is straightforward and often humorous, though not anything special. I felt like it was more or less a recounting of battles and incidents of combat, without much in the way of personal depth. Burgin goes out of his way not to name people he disliked, giving them nick names, and doesn't dwell on negative actions of fellow marines. There's a small amount of sniping at Eugene Sledge's book With the Old Breed, which Burgin doesn't entirely agree with, and a minor ribbing of his friends (including Sledge and Shelton), but it's over all meant to be a memorial for friends long gone.
If you're reading it, like I was, as research for The Pacific fandom, it's pretty solid. There's lots of details about what living conditions were like, what things felt like, what all the kinds of annoying bugs were, descriptions of sounds and smells, etc. There's only a little bit about Sledge and Shelton, but more about Haldane and Jones (100% why I was reading it!). As mentioned before, the Okinawa section is more or less skimmed over, if you're looking for a lot more about that.
Which brings me to the one thing that didn't sit well with me with the book. Burgin is mentions his dislike of the Japanese, and brings up any time they did something negative like desecrate the dead. It's understandable that they were not his favourite people, and I get that. However, at no time does he mention that the marines in his company were acting the same way towards the Japanese as he objected so strongly that the Japanese were acting towards his marines. He had to have known, but he leaves it out. It doesn't fit with his narrative. (Incidentally, it surprises me not at all that his helper writer is the guy who did the hatchet job bio of Edwin Stanton.)
Overall, I'd rec it if you're looking for more about the characters of the show (especially the audiobook, which is narrated by the lovely Sean Runnette), but there are better books about marines in the Pacific out there.
The book covers Burgin's early life, USMC training, deployment, stays in Malbourne and Pavuvu, fighting on Cape Gloucester, Peleliu and Okinawa, and a little bit about his post war life. It does it all pretty briskly except for Peleliu, which is covered in some detail. I suspect that the focus on that battle over the others is that Burgin felt that it had been over looked in the history of the Pacific Theatre, and he wanted it to be remembered.
The prose itself is straightforward and often humorous, though not anything special. I felt like it was more or less a recounting of battles and incidents of combat, without much in the way of personal depth. Burgin goes out of his way not to name people he disliked, giving them nick names, and doesn't dwell on negative actions of fellow marines. There's a small amount of sniping at Eugene Sledge's book With the Old Breed, which Burgin doesn't entirely agree with, and a minor ribbing of his friends (including Sledge and Shelton), but it's over all meant to be a memorial for friends long gone.
If you're reading it, like I was, as research for The Pacific fandom, it's pretty solid. There's lots of details about what living conditions were like, what things felt like, what all the kinds of annoying bugs were, descriptions of sounds and smells, etc. There's only a little bit about Sledge and Shelton, but more about Haldane and Jones (100% why I was reading it!). As mentioned before, the Okinawa section is more or less skimmed over, if you're looking for a lot more about that.
Which brings me to the one thing that didn't sit well with me with the book. Burgin is mentions his dislike of the Japanese, and brings up any time they did something negative like desecrate the dead. It's understandable that they were not his favourite people, and I get that. However, at no time does he mention that the marines in his company were acting the same way towards the Japanese as he objected so strongly that the Japanese were acting towards his marines. He had to have known, but he leaves it out. It doesn't fit with his narrative. (Incidentally, it surprises me not at all that his helper writer is the guy who did the hatchet job bio of Edwin Stanton.)
Overall, I'd rec it if you're looking for more about the characters of the show (especially the audiobook, which is narrated by the lovely Sean Runnette), but there are better books about marines in the Pacific out there.