One Damned Island After Another: The Saga of the Seventh
By: Clive Howard, Joe Whitley / Narrated By: Will Stauff
Length: 13 hrs
Wow! It really IS about one damned island after another!!!
I mean, like, totally!
This audiobook begins with Dec. 6, 1941, pre-Pearl Harbor, and goes all the way to post-atomic bombs and ceremonial surrender.
And EVERYthing in between is Every. Single. Battle. for pretty much Every. Single. Island that was involved in the war in the Pacific. Truly, ALL of them.
Also, I should note that the Preface is about an article that was written stating that Heroes Don’t Win Wars, that it’s all the little people who do—the paper pushers, the truck drivers, those pulling KP duty all the time. Basically, those soldiers whose lives were never in jeopardy, who were bored out of their minds, who were NEVER going to get a promotion.
And then it goes straight into how the war in the Pacific was basically won by Heroes. Every single island? Well, every single man who was in direct danger behaved heroically.
Which was fine by me because it makes for a pretty awesome listening experience. There are tales of combat, tales of men lost at sea. Tales of planes losing hydraulics/brakes and pilots coming up with ways to survive the landing (It’s through the use of parachutes, my friend). Dogfights between fighters are chronicled, bombing stories are told of in great detail. And the deaths of many, many men are described and documented, telling of their names, their geographical origins in the US.
Will Stauff narrates this with plenty of liveliness and verve. There are several mispronunciations, but the man just glides through with the narrative. He does, I gotta tell ya, tho’, wind up doing cartoon-type kinda voices throughout. Every time I heard So-and-So from New York, I knew: Uh-oh! Be prepared for a NYC cab driver voice. Or So-and-So from San Antonio, TX, it was: Uh-oh! Be prepared for a thick drawl and twang. Still, at least the man gave an enthusiastic performance, like he was truly fond of the stories and of the men, so that made the audiobook enjoyable.
Also, be prepared for the language of the times. It was Japs This and Japs That, Those Tenacious Nips here and Those Crafty Nips there. And when we got to the ceremonial surrender, the author(s) went to great lengths to make the Japanese pilots come off as caricatures, laughable in their smallness of stature compared to the Mighty Americans.
But I love Military History, and One Damned Island After Another is a fine testament to the brave men of the Seventh. It was gripping at some points, humorous at others, and respectful at all times. There’s no way ANY of the 13 hours could’ve been edited out, not to keep this an accurate portrayal of what the Seventh saw and did.
And they saw and did a lot. They have my deepest regard and gratitude!
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