Okinawa: The Last Battle
About this audiobook
The battle for the island of Okinawa would last for the next eighty-two days.
Through the course of this dramatic battle over 20,000 Americans would lose their lives and over 75,000 Japanese were killed in one of the bloodiest clashes of World War Two.
Okinawa: The Last Battle is a remarkably detailed account of this monumental event by four soldiers who witnessed the action first-hand.
They take the listener to heart of the fight explaining the preparations for the invasion, under its codename Operation Iceberg, through to the major conflicts at the beachhead, Ie Shima, breaking through the defenses surrounding Shuri and overcoming the last-ditch counter-offenses of the Japanese.
This book is a must-listen for anyone interested the Pacific Theater and how the United States Marines and Army were able to overcome the Japanese in the last few months of the war.
Corporal Eugene B. Sledge said of the battle: "The Japanese fought to win—it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business."
Okinawa: The Last Battle was written by U. S. Army historians who participated in the Ryukyus campaign as members of a group organized to accompany the American forces to the Ryukyus and secure at first hand the materials for a history of their operations. Maj. Roy E. Appleman was attached to the 27th Division, M/Sgt. James M. Burns and Lt. Col. Stevens accompanied the Tenth Army headquarters, and Capt. Russell A. Gugeler served with the 7th Division on Okinawa. After the war many of the authors went on to become prominent military historians. Appleman passed away in 1996, Burns in 2014, Stevens in 2001, and Gugeler in 1985. Their work was first published in 1948.
About the author
Roy E. Appleman (1904-1992) served in the U.S. Army in both World War II and the Korean War. He is the author or coauthor of several military history studies, including South to Naktong and North to the Yalu.
James MacGregor Burns was an American historian and political scientist whose work has earned both the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. He served as the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and as Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the University of Maryland until his death in 2014.
Russell A. Gugeler is the author or coauthor of several military history studies, including Combat Actions in Korea. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
John Stevens was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Joe Barrett has been a working stage, screen, and recording booth actor since 1974 and an award-winning and eight-time Audie Award-nominated audiobook narrator since 1999. He also practiced law for five years-but don't hold that against him. Joe is married to actress Andrea Wright, and together they have four children.
