Central Skagit Library District

Autumn 1944. World War II is nearly over in Europe but is escalating in the Pacific, where American soldiers face an opponent who will go to any length to avoid defeat. The Japanese army follows the samurai code of Bushido, stipulating that surrender is a form of dishonor. This book takes readers to the bloody tropical-island battlefields of Peleliu and Iwo Jima and to the embattled Philippines, where General Douglas MacArthur has made a triumphant...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
 
With the war in Europe winding down in the spring of 1945, the United States turns its vast military resources toward a furious assault on the last great stepping-stone to Japan—the heavily fortified island of Okinawa. The three-month battle in the Pacific theater will feature some of the most vicious combat of the entire Second World War, as American troops confront an enemy that would rather...

"It's spring on the Pacific west coast and new life is stirring! Wild babies are being born - in the ocean, on the shore and deep inside the ancient rainforest. Wolf pups, cougar kittens, bear cubs and whale calves all begin their life in the pristine wilderness of this magnificent place. Young readers will meet a fascinating group of fourteen wild baby animals -- including land and marine mammals, fish, birds and amphibians -- and learn about the...

"A rich and compelling introduction to the history of Asian Pacific American communities as told through 101 objects from the Smithsonian collections"--

World War II endures in the popular imagination as a heroic struggle between good and evil, with villainous Hitler driving its events. But Hitler was not in power when the conflict erupted in Asia--and he was certainly dead before it ended. His armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his empire did not span the Eurasian continent, and he did not inherit any of the spoils of war. That central role belonged to Josef Stalin. The Second World War was...

A memoir of the veteran author's experiences as a member of the famed K/3/5 First Marine Division during the pivotal invasion of Guadalcanal describes his command at Peleliu and losses of several friends.

At 8:06 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Seaman First Class Donald Stratton was consumed by an inferno. A million pounds of explosives had detonated beneath his battle station aboard the USS Arizona, barely fifteen minutes into Japan's surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Near death and burned across two thirds of his body, Don, a 19-year-old Nebraskan who had been steeled by the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, summoned the will to haul himself...

A rifleman's account of his experiences in the fabled 1st Marine Division in the Pacific War, describing the brush with the law that led to his enlistment and the harsh lessons he learned about bravery, death, and survival.

"The island of Iwo Jima was the epic land and sea battle that produced one of the iconic images of WWII: the Marines raising the American flag on Mount Surabachi, an active volcano that was the site of intense hand to hand combat. In this ... novel, Deutermann follows a young gunnery liaison officer, Lee Bishop, who during the ferocious battle for the island is pulled from his station aboard the USS Nevada to serve on-shore as a spotter, calling in...