A memoir of a tough childhood—and tough combat—by an “adventurous, lively, outspoken, opinionated” WWII Marine veteran (Columbus Dispatch). On September 15, 1944, the US First Marine Division landed on a small island in the Central Pacific called Peleliu as a prelude to the liberation of the Philippines. Among the first wave of Marines that hit the beach that day was twenty-two-year-old George … twenty-two-year-old George Peto.
Growing up on an Ohio farm, George always preferred being outdoors and exploring. This made school a challenge, but his hunting, fishing, and trapping skills helped put food on his family’s table. As a poor teenager living in a rough area, he got into regular brawls, and he found holding down a job hard because of his wanderlust. After working out west with the CCC, he decided that joining the Marines offered him the opportunity for adventure, plus three square meals a day—so he and his brother joined the Corps in 1941, just a few months before Pearl Harbor.
Following boot camp and training, he was initially assigned to various guard units until he was shipped out to the Pacific and assigned to the 1st Marines. His first combat experience was the landing at Finschhaven, followed by Cape Gloucester. Then as a Forward Observer, he went ashore in one of the lead amtracs at Peleliu and saw fierce fighting for a week before the regiment was relieved due to massive casualties. Six months later, his division became the immediate reserve for the initial landing on Okinawa. They encountered no resistance when they came ashore, but would go on to fight on Okinawa for over six months.
This is the wild and remarkable story of an “Old Breed” Marine—his youth in the Great Depression, his training and combat in the Pacific, and his life after the war, told in his own words.
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The way history should be written, by an individual and his journey through the worlds greatest conflict, in one’s man words.
My dad was on peleliu and told a few tales of it. I picked this up for a comparison. This was a very good memoir. I travelled there while living in australia. All that effort and loss for a chunk of dried out coral is heartbreaking.
Told me things I never knew about this island and our men who fought and died there. Found out after the fact that my uncle was shot 3 times there and survived.
Interesting story of one enlisted Marine’s experience. A very personal story.
A great story of battel history. Many facts I was unaware of about this island battle.
Great Personal account
The story of this young man interested me because my father-in-law served as a doctor in the Navy on Ulithi during WWII. The story of this young man coincided with some of the information passed on by Doc. The whole tragedy of war played out in a matter of months on a miserable South Pacific island. Interesting because it is in the words of the man who lived it.
I struggled with how this is written. Seems disjointed and, at times, unrelated to the subject of the paragraph. While The biographical information is interesting and gives a feel for the era, too much time is spent building the background.
Sorry, can’t recommend unless you enjoy slogging through a book.
Nicely done
I appreciate stories like these because they emphasize the sacrifice our citizen soldiers make on our behalf.
History is my passion. This book was absolutely amazing!! What a treasure. I am particularly fond of diaries, or journals. They may be inaccurate occasionally as to provable facts, but they are always a boots on the ground, eyewitness observation.
This was so full of details and surprises, my only regret is not being able to meet the author personally. Now there was a real American!
Excellent book told from the point of view of a Marine rifleman. Very colorful and annotated. A different way to look at Peleliu and Okinawa. Highly entertaining.
It’s ok. Not as well written as other WW2 books. Way too much info about his personal life. Not a guy you would hang with.
Description of combat and the effect on the fighters will put the reader in the foxhole and feel the emotional impact of the battlefield. Veterans will concur with the accounts of brotherhood and shared fears, loses, and the joy of survival.
This book summarizes this battle from the perspective of an ordinary marine. The horrors of war and the raw voyage of American and Japanese combatants are vividly recalled. There was no glorious victories, just dirt, thrist, hunger, the stench of the battlefield, and the overwhelming relief and not of survival
A truly great autobiography of a soldier who went through hell, yet kept his sanity. If you want to have an inkling of what it was like to be a Marine during the island-hopping campaigns of WWII, this is it.
Excellent.
I have been to Peleliu and toured the battle sites. It added so much to the experience to read first hand what it was like.
Plus, the book covered much more than that.
Not well written. Some parts not interesting and corny.
Awesome book
One of the best military biographies I’ve read. An amazing story of courage. Well written by a very humble and likable man. God bless George. He is a true hero,; the kind of guy I would be proud to call my friend. Not for the feint hearted as the descriptions of combat are grafiic. I highly recommend this honest, first hand account of the life of an extraordinary yet ordinary man who was not only able to endur, but in most cases to thrive, in some of the worst conditions imaginable. The fact that he lived to tell the tale without any serious physical or emotional injuries is in itself amazing. It is a heartbreaking and inspiring story I shall not soon forget. Thank you, George, for sharing your story. I wish every young man would read this book and discuss it with a god fearing mature man, preferably his father. I very rarely give books a five but this one qualifies.