Last Man Standing

A good read on the carnage that was the first five days on Peleiu for the 1st Marine Regiment. One has to question the point the exercise and Brig. Gen. O P Smith said as much in an interview with Associated Press years after the battle. Why not just take the airfield as had already happened when one third of the island was captured, hence assisting MacArthur in his operations in the Philippines and leave the enemy to the highlands and just bomb them from offshore? The author is critical of both Maj. Gen. William Rupertus and Col. Lewis Puller for the appalling casualty rate.

For those such as myself who have certain demands on how our history reading is presented I would have liked the author to have used footnotes. There are a few too many anonymous quotes for my liking. The publishers put some at times pointless fact boxes that would have been better served as appendix. The pictures throughout were far too difficult to see in any detail as they were printed on the text uncoated stock and many lost detail. A 16 page section on coated stock in the middle of the book would have assisted greatly. The captioning of some pictures was also pointless.
The bibliography is outstanding and a veritable treasure trove for anyone who wants to read further.

Recommended to anyone that has an interest in the subject.