Islands of the Damned cover art

Islands of the Damned

A Marine at War in the Pacific

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Islands of the Damned

By: R. V. Burgin, Bill Marvel
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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About this listen

This is an eyewitness - and eye-opening - account of some of the most savage and brutal fighting in the war against Japan, told from the perspective of a young Texan who volunteered for the Marine Corps to escape a life as a traveling salesman.

R. V. Burgin enlisted at the age of 20 and, with his sharp intelligence and earnest work ethic, climbed the ranks from a green private to a seasoned sergeant. Along the way, he shouldered a rifle as a member of a mortar squad. He saw friends die and enemies killed. He saw scenes he wanted to forget but never did - from enemy snipers who tied themselves to branches in the highest trees, to ambushes along narrow jungle trails, to the abandoned corpses of hara kiri victims, to the final howling banzai attacks as the Japanese embraced their inevitable defeat.

An unforgettable narrative of a young Marine in combat, Islands of the Damned brings to life the hell that was the Pacific War.

©2010 R.V. Burgin and William Marvel (P)2010 Tantor Military Military & War World War II Veteran War Suspenseful

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Personal, human, humble and compelling, this book is hard to describe. It isn't "fantastic" because that suggests a 'tale' or a 'story' - this was a narrative of true events. 'Great' suggests grandeur, but in the mud and the rain, nothing was grand.
Just listen to the excellent telling of this account and arrive at your own conclusion. It's well worth it.

An incredible Soldiers eye view of the Pacific War

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fantastic first hand battle account of the Pacific war on and off the field. A must read/listen for anyone interested in the war. my biggest issue was the narrator's pronunciation of the word ration. A very small thing to get complain about but it really got on my nerves. other than that I enjoyed every second

come for the war, stay for the rations

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A magnificent, magnificent, magnificent, magnificent , magnificent, magnificent, magnificent, magnificent, magnificent, magnificent book, superbly read.

Wonderful

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Amazing story of the bravest of the brave. Well written, great narration and beyond belief that these men could do what they did the save the world from tyranny. RESPECT

Respect

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'Islands of The Dammed' offers an account of three of the Pacific wars most hard fought battles from a U.S Marine who was there. The Cape Gloucester, Peleliu and Okinawa campaigns are described as seen through the eyes of R.V Burgin, a U.S Marine from the same K35 unit as Eugene Sledge was.

This book complements the excellent 'With The Old Breed' written by the aforementioned E.B.Sledge. It is particularly interesting to read accounts of the same incidents mentioned in both books and compare the slightly different perspectives shared by two men who fought alongside one another during the Peleliu and Okinawa battles. There are incidents mentioned in one account and not in the other which allow the readers of both books to build a more complete version of events as seen through the eyes of two men. Given this, I would urge anyone who has not read 'With The Old Breed' to also consider reading this too and vice-versa.

It is interesting to note that Burgin mentions on more than one occasion within his book how he had differing opinions on certain views held by Sledge in his account.

'Islands of the Dammed' covers more of Burgin's pre and post war life than Sledge's own account does of his, but it must be said that Sledge's writings go into generally far more detail and as such fill his book primarily with his experiences of war.

Nevertheless, I would recommend 'Islands of The Dammed' to anyone interested in the Pacific battles of world war two and the personal experiences of a man who lived through them.

As a footnote, I would also like to add that the narration of this title is excellent throughout and makes you feel as if Burgin himself was the narrator.

Compelling reading

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Moving and very descriptive, a must for those interested in the Pacific theatre. I'm very glad I bought this book.

Buy this book

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this book was as good as I expected. Having watched the pacific years ago I was familiar with the authors story but the book brings it home, as to be expected.

a great book

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Lest we forget … at the going down of the sun and in the morning we shall remember them.

Thank you USMC ‘Semper Fidelis’

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