The Things Our Fathers Saw - by Matthew Rozell (Paperback)

About the Book

The acclaimed oral history of World War II in the Pacific. Over thirty survivors who fought from Pearl Harbor to the surrender at Tokyo Bay give firsthand accounts of combat and brotherhood.

Book Synopsis

The telephone rings on the hospital floor, and they tell you it is your mother, the phone call you have been dreading. You've lost part of your face to a Japanese sniper on Okinawa, and after many surgeries, the doctor has finally told you that at 19, you will never see again. The pain and shock are one thing. But now you have to tell her, from 5000 miles away.

-- 'So I had a hard two months, I guess. I kept mostly to myself. I wouldn't talk to people. I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do when I got home. How was I going to tell my mother this? You know what I mean?' Jimmy Butterfield, WWII Marine veteran

From the author of 'The Things Our Fathers Saw' World War II eyewitness history series

How soon we forget. Or perhaps, we were never told. That is understandable, given what they saw.

-- 'I was talking to a shipmate of mine waiting for the motor launch, and all at once I saw a plane go over our ship. I did not know what it was, but the fellow with me said, 'That's a Jap plane, Jesus!' It went down and dropped a torpedo. Then I saw the Utah turn over.' Barney Ross, U.S. Navy seaman, Pearl Harbor

At the height of World War II, LOOK Magazine profiled a small American community for a series of articles portraying it as the wholesome, patriotic model of life on the home front. Decades later, author Matthew Rozell tracks down over thirty survivors who fought the war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to the surrender at Tokyo Bay.

-- 'Rage is instantaneous. He's looking at me from a crawling position. I didn't shoot him; I went and kicked him in the head. Rage does funny things. After I kicked him, I shot and killed him.' Thomas Jones, Marine veteran, Battle of Guadalcanal

These are the stories that the magazine could not tell to the American public.

-- 'I remember it rained like hell that night, and the water was running down the slope into our foxholes. I had to use my helmet to keep bailing out, you know. Lt. Gower called us together. He said, 'I think we're getting hit with a banzai. We're going to have to pull back. 'Holy God, there was howling and screaming! They had naked women, with spears, stark naked!' Nick Grinaldo, U.S. Army veteran, Saipan

By the end of 2018, fewer than 400,000 WW II veterans will still be with us, out of the over 16 million who put on a uniform. But why is it that today, nobody seems to know these stories? Maybe our veterans did not volunteer; maybe we were too busy with our own lives to ask. But they opened up to the younger generation, when a history teacher told their grandchildren to ask.

-- 'I hope you'll never have to tell a story like this, when you get to be 87. I hope you'll never have to do it.' Ralph Leinoff, Marine veteran Iwo Jima

This book brings you the previously untold firsthand accounts of combat and brotherhood, of captivity and redemption, and the aftermath of a war that left no American community unscathed.

-- 'After 31/2 years of starvation and brutal treatment, that beautiful symbol of freedom once more flies over our head! Our POW camp tailor worked all night and finished our first American flag! The blue came from a GI barracks bag, red from a Jap comforter and the white from an Australian bed sheet. When I came out of the barracks and saw those beautiful colors for the first time, I felt like crying!' Joe Minder, U.S. Army POW, Japan,1945

As we forge ahead as a nation, we owe it to ourselves to become reacquainted with a generation that is fast leaving us, who asked for nothing but gave everything, to attune ourselves as Americans to a broader appreciation of what we stand for.

"Should be a must-read in every high school in America" --Reviewer

Review Quotes

"Great book that is easy to follow. I felt like I was the one sitting across the table talking to the people being interviewed. Will definitely be reading the next book."

"I have been a student of this war for over 60 years and the author made me want to read more of these types of books. Mr. Rozell constructed the living memories of heroes of the Pacific War into a striking and amazing narrative."

"The survivors of WW2 are the generation of ultimate self-sacrifice but also dignified silence. Remarkable men and women, thank you one and all."

"If you are looking for blood, guts and glory, look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for tales of normal people undertaking extraordinary tasks then read on and be humbled."

"I was sorry to reach the end, and that is a rarity."

"This book should be a must-read in every high school in America. It is a very poignant look back at our greatest generation, maybe it will inspire the next one."

My father, a member of 'The Greatest Generation', would never talk to me about the serious events in his deployment to the South Pacific. [Later], the things he told me could have been right out this book; the same words, the same descriptions of horrible sights, the same sorrow for friends lost...the same guilt for having survived. Mr. Rozell, THANK YOU for this book."

"An absolutely absorbing read. It would seem a simple concept, to let the people who were there tell their story. Rozell gives us background, structure and scope without ever falling in love with his own voice or stealing the limelight, and that is no simple task. Well done!"

"I felt like I was sitting in the room with a group of WWII veterans, hearing their stories of hardship, fear, and what they had to do for their country, for their family and friends, fighting for what they believed in. I could not put this book down, so very well written to engage the reader and share experiences of war.

"Awesome writing and very intriguing stories. Thank you for capturing some of the details that will soon be lost forever. Shall we never forget!"

"Now I know why [my father] didn't talk about his war, his four years in New Guinea. I now have a much better understanding of why."

"My father was wounded during the war in Europe. Your book helped me understand, a little better what my father faced - the fear, horror and suffering that is most personal to each soldier. Thank you for writing this excellent book."

"History is best learned and remembered when it is humanized. Rozell's book does just that. It gives faces and names and stories to some of battles I read about in my high school textbooks--I couldn't tell you much about what I learned from them, but I could go on about the things I learned from this book. "