Description
Book SynopsisSid Phillips, a World War II Marine Corps hero featured in HBO®'s The Pacific, offers up an invaluable firsthand account of the war against Japan.
A mortarman with H-2-1 of the legendary 1st Marine Division, Sid was only seventeen years old when he entered combat with the Japanese. Some two years later, when he returned home, the island fighting on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester had turned Sid into an Old Timer by Marine standards, and more: he left as a boy, but came home a man.
These are his memoirs, the humble and candid tales that Sid collected during a Pacific odyssey spanning half the globe, from the grueling boot camp at Parris Island, to the coconut groves of Guadalcanal, to the romantic respite of Australia. Sid recalls his encounters with icons like Chesty Puller, General Vandergrift, Eleanor Roosevelt, and his boyhood friend, Eugene Sledge. He remembers the rain of steel from Japanese bombers and battleships, the
Trade Review
"For anyone who cares about the human dimension of war—its cost and its heroism—Sid Phillip's book is a must read."—Ken Burns, Emmy award-winning filmmaker of The War
"We have an extraordinary opportunity now to recognize perhaps THE key player, if there is one, if there's ONLY one key player, he might be at the very top of the pyramid... a native of Mobile, Alabama, a man who appears over and over in our series... Dr. Sid Phillips."—Tom Hanks, Executive Producer, The Pacific
"Like his life-long friend, Eugene Sledge, Sid Phillips speaks to us in these enchanting memoirs in his natural voice, engaging and modest, full of insight and intelligence, but ever alert to the lighter side of even the most dismal human circumstances. And like any great story teller, he leaves you wishing to hear a great deal more."—Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
