Next up on the hit parade, Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis.

Gudalcanal diary cover

World War II history is outside of my usual reading, so here’s the story on how I ended up with the book on the shelf.  A few years ago, I went to this giant used book sale at the local United Way. This book struck me, because it was clearly where the amazing, if under-appreciated, Georgia band of the same name got their handle. My grandfather was also in the Pacific during WWII (in Guam not Guadalcanal - but whatever). As an added bonus, the book is aesthetically pretty cool. It has the Marine Corps logo on the cover, and it has vintage war time-y stuff, like an inscription on the back of the title page that says:

THIS IS A RANDOM HOUSE WARTIME BOOK

The text is complete and unabridged, but every effort has been made to comply with the government’s request to conserve essential materials.

Remember when there was an expectation that the public should make sacrifices during war time to contribute to the effort? Me either.  Anyway.  I’m not sure why I bought two copies of the book. If you want my extra copy, shoot me an e-mail.

The book is a war correspondent’s diary of landing with the Marines on the small Pacific island of Guadalcanal, in what was the beginning of an WWII offensive to retake islands that had been occupied by Japan. The writing style is definitely vintage workmanlike newspaperman-ese. Apparently, the phases “shooting the breeze” and “scuttle butt” were new, because the author tries repeatedly to give the reader an idea of what those crazy phrases might mean.  The author projects a macho, patriotic, “We Can Do It” attitude throughout the book. Since it was released while the war was still happening, it also has a sort of propaganda feel to it. That said, the taking of Guadalcanal was a heroic undertaking, and this book gives some idea of what that time in history might have been like.

Students of 70’s television may be familiar with the exploits of the Navy’s Black Sheep Squadron that was stationed on the island for a time. The show Baa Baa Black Sheep (starring Robert Conrad) was based on the war memoir of “Pappy” Boyington.  Man, I loved that show.  I kept waiting for Robert Conrad to show up in the book, but all that happens after the Marines were done cleaning up the joint.  Oh, well.  Like I said, I have an extra for any takers.
Also: Rhino has re-issued two of Guadalcanal Diary’s albums Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and Jamboree as a single CD. Kick ass.