Recommended Books

‍ ‍ Classic and soon-to-be Classic Books

  • The Last Zero Fighter (Japanese Naval Pilots) by Dan King

  • A Tomb Called Iwo Jima (Japanese WWII Combat Veterans) by Dan King

  • Blossoms from the Sky (Kamikazi Pilots) by Dan King

  • The Iron Graves of Saipan (Japanese 9th Tank Regiment) by Dan King

  • The Yalu RIver Boys (B-29 Crew’s Captivity in the Korean War) by Dan King

  • In Blood, Flowers Bloom (A WWII Story of Valor and Forgiveness Across Generations) by Samantha Bresnahan

  • Kept by God (An FMDA Chaplain’s story of faith and sacrifice) by Billy Joe Cawthron

  • The Forgotten Unit of Iwo Jima: 386th ASG, USAAF (Landing on D+5 across Red Beach, an air service group with specialized skills in repairing the damaged aircraft that landed on Iwo Jima) by Col J.J. Preston, USMC

  • Iwo Jima’s Battlefield Promise (This book is concerning the details of infantry combat on Iwo Jima. Two officers from North Carolina - both UNC-CH graduates - meet by chance on Iwo in 1945 and make a solemn vow to have a drink together after the war.) by Col. Charles Jones.

  • Elite : USMC First Reconnaissance Company Of The Korean War 1950-1953 (A recount of the history of the Recon Marines on major operations as they slipped through no-man's-land into enemy territory to gather urgently needed tactical information. Recently released declassified official documents, long-forgotten after-action reports, recent person­al interviews and the written recollections of those involved in the actual fighting, along with aerial and ground reconnaissance photos are included.) by Jerry Ravino; recommended by Bert Caloud

  • My Iwo Jima Saga (The story of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines led by then-Capt.Severance. The bloody campaign on Mt Suribachi was immortalized in the photo by Joe Rosenthal that helped inspire a war-weary nation to victory) by Col Dave Severance

    ‍ ‍

    ‍ ‍‍ ‍

  • Marines and Others (From Tun Tavern to Desert Storm) by Col Charles Waterhouse

  • Valor in Action (Feats by Medal of Honor recipients) by Jane Waterhouse

  • Vietnam Sketchbook: Drawings from Delta to DMZ by Charles Waterhouse

  • Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam (the story of the centerpiece of the Tet Offensive) by Mark Bowden

  • Soldiers of the Sea (USMC 1775-1962) by Robert Debs Heinl, Col USMC

  • Fix Bayonets (First hand account of WWI Marines in France, illustrated) by John W. Thomason

  • With the Old Breed (At Peleliu and Okinawa) by Eugene Sledge

  • China Marine (An Infantryman’s Life After World War II) by E.B. Sledge

  • This Kind of War (First-hand perspective of the Korean War) by T.R. Fehrenbach

  • Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima (WW II Commemorative Series of USMC Historical Center) by Col Joseph Alexander

  • Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic by Lt Col Whitman S. Bartley (History and Museums Division Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps)

  • Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor (Story of mass courage and individual valor) by Bill D. Ross

  • Iwo Jima: The Dramatic Account of the Epic Battle that turned the Tide of WWII (Includes diaries and letters of veterans as well as official records) by Richard F. Newcomb

  • Iwo Jima: Springboard to Final Victory (Contains many superb photographs not seen elsewhere) by Captain Raymond Henri

  • Remembering Iwo (A Personal Memoir, published ) by Talbot Rain

  • Brothers in Battle, Sons in Spirit (Traces the legacy of the Marine Corp’s Fifth Division from the black sands of Iwo Jima to the jungles and hills of Vietnam) by Gunny Sgt Alfredo Cooke